New Product: Mikrotik Routerboard CRS326-24G-2S+RM

[RTM]

It has not received much attention, but Mikrotik has also released a version of this switch that can run RouterOS (and function as a router of course) called CRS326-24G-2S+RM.

I ordered one since it was only marginally more expensive than the CSS version (133.41 euros vs 111.15 at the moment, both prices are without VAT), while I don't intend to use the routing functionality, it is great to have the ability to use RouterOS, as that receives very frequent updates (something at least the old SwOS hasn't).

 

[Marsh]

MikroTik Dual-Boot (SwOS + RouterOS) Cloud Router Switch w/ 24 Gigabit Ports and 2 SFP+ Ports

Baltic network has it for $170

 

[PigLover]

Making a new thread for this per Patrick's suggestion...

I've been running the SwitchOS version of this switch (CSS-326-24G-2S+RM) for several months. I've really like it - low power (12w with ~15Gige and 2 SFP+ active) and dead silent. It does run a bit hot (over 60C), but its sitting in a location with no cooling and poor ventilation.

This new version appears to be identical, simply adding the option to boot ROS instead of SWos. I would worry that it would be severely under-powered to actually do anything with RouterOS.

@RTM - when your's arrive - do a quick check to see if they've configured the switch chip to act like a giant Bridge when running ROS. If they did then it should be OK, doing Layer-2 forwarding natively and only promoting packets that require processing. But if they are trying to run things all through the CPU like they do with many of the other RB products then its going to be a problem.

 

[SamDabbers]

It looks like the hardware differences between the CSS and the CRS are additional flash & RAM to support ROS, a console port, and a less cut-down version of the CPU - DX3216 vs DX3236, which is probably the same silicon but with features fused off on the former.

The datasheet indicates it's an ARMv7 CPU, so it's probably comparable in power (clock for clock) to the RB3011, albeit running at 800MHz vs the 3011's 1.4GHz, and only one core available vs the 3011's two. By the numbers, its routing performance should be roughly 1/4 the 3011. Not terribly compelling, unless you want ROS for management/scripting.

 

[RTM]

It looks like the hardware differences between the CSS and the CRS are additional flash & RAM to support ROS, a console port, and a less cut-down version of the CPU - DX3216 vs DX3236, which is probably the same silicon but with features fused off on the former.

The datasheet indicates it's an ARMv7 CPU, so it's probably comparable in power (clock for clock) to the RB3011, albeit running at 800MHz vs the 3011's 1.4GHz, and only one core available vs the 3011's two. By the numbers, its routing performance should be roughly 1/4 the 3011. Not terribly compelling, unless you want ROS for management/scripting.

I think it is fair to say that the routing performance is going to be pretty bad. It is probably going to be even worse compared to the RB3011 and QCA IPQ8064, as it has relatively high end Krait 300 cores, whereas I doubt the one core the CRS326 has is anything better than a Cortex A9 (which is slower than the Krait 300).

I guess only time will tell whether or not the "new" SwitchOS will be better maintained (and generally better) than the old SwitchOS versions.

 

[Patrick]

I can imagine a scenario where this is good for the low-end of the market where maybe you need a DHCP server or something similar. RouterOS has a few interesting features. I still want one of these.