Looking for a (somewhat) Power Efficient 10Gbe Layer 3 Switch for a Homelab - Cisco N3K?

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N1h1l1ty

New Member
Oct 21, 2018
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Toronto, Canada
Shameless repost from r/homelab but I thought I'd post here for some visibility as well. Hopefully this is a good first post :p

I'm looking for the best bang for your buck 10gbe switch that can handle Layer 3 duties, is somewhat power efficient, and won't break the bank too much. The Cisco N3K (specifically the N3K-C3064PQ-10GX) looks to be the best option at the moment coming right around the 600$ mark with several sources on the web quoting power consumption at 120-130 watts under load - This is acceptable given the number of ports and the fact that my 3750E isn't exactly sipping at almost 100 watts with marginal load over its two 10 gbe uplinks. I'd prefer something that will do everything in one box and give me lots of 10gbe connectivity for redundant uplinks from 4 servers and an uplink to my pfSense box running a Chelsio 10gb NIC.

I'd prefer to stay away from Netgear/hacked Qanta etc - if anyone has solid used enterprise suggestions with relatively easy to learn CLI, I'm all ears! I'd consider the Brocade ICX offerings with eight 10gbe ports like the ICX6610 but am a little hesitant given the licensing hurdles - I do need *some* 1gb copper ports, but i'd rather one power hungry All-In-One box like the N3K with some copper transceivers than 2 separate power hungry Cisco boxes lol.
 

vanfawx

Active Member
Jan 4, 2015
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Vancouver, Canada
That nexus switch is hot and loud, just to warn you. I run a pair of them in a vPC domain. They are extremely reliable, but with only about 1/3 of the ports in use, the switch pushes a lot of air and it's pretty hot.
 

modder man

Active Member
Jan 19, 2015
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I just got this switch, racked up and running a few ports it is consuming 82 watts. I would say that heat output is directly related to power consumption. That being the case I dont see an issue with this switch from that side of things. I can say for sure that I would not want to run it in my office due to the noise.
 

N1h1l1ty

New Member
Oct 21, 2018
27
1
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Toronto, Canada
Heat and noise are not much of a concern, one way or another my DL380E G8 is going to be louder lol. They're going to be in a well ventilated basement - Power efficiency was the main factor I was concerned about @modder man - thanks for the current info, as any actual real life homelab metrics for these are pretty rare
 

vanfawx

Active Member
Jan 4, 2015
365
67
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45
Vancouver, Canada
They're 220W power supplies, so that'll be your max regardless. They're great switches, I've had this pair working for over 4 years now. They also have taken every SFP/SFP+ module and DA cable I've thrown at it, with no complaints.
 

maze

Active Member
Apr 27, 2013
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Just put 1g copper rj45 plugs and fly away :)

And remember the unsupported transiever command.. thats your friend in need!

Never had one at home but used to manage multiple at my old job. Rock solid piece of gear, but yes, they do run a bit loud (like any other piece of dc gear i guess..)

You could look at the Aruba 3810M or the HPE v5700.. But im not sure if you Can get abuwhere near the n3k pricepoint
 

acquacow

Well-Known Member
Feb 15, 2017
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The copper Netgear Pro switches are lite on power, near-silent, and run nice and cool.
 

Lyphiard

New Member
Oct 17, 2015
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3
If you're getting a nexus switch, try getting one decked out with the licensing features (mainly LAN_BASE_SERVICES_PKG and LAN_ENTERPRISE_SERVICES_PKG).

Nexus switches are quite powerful and reliable, I have several 3048TP's which does BGP, PBR, and several other more advanced routing features.