Recommendations for a 10GB Switch

[Deleted member 48573]

Hello,

Looking for a 24 port 10Gb (preference all Rj45) that can run without any licenses and can consume some power. This is going to be in a homelab where I want to minimize power consumption. Any recommendations would be welcomed.

I am using Netgear XS512EM 10-Gigabit/Multi-Gigabit Plus and could use something similar....

 

[MountainBofh]

Any 24 port 10G base-T switch is going to be a real power hog. Netgear's XS724EM might be your best option, and even that idle's at 60W with nothing plugged into it per their specs.

https://www.netgear.com/images/datasheet/switches/WebManagedSwitches/XS512EM_XS724EM_DS.pdf

SFP+ is the way to go if you want to cut down on power, both client side and switch side.

 

[Deleted member 48573]

Okay... Any recommendations for a switch then?

 

[MountainBofh]

if you set on 10G base-T, the netgear will be the lowest power.

The data center type SFP+ switches won't be all that low power either. My Arista 7050SX idles at 70 watts, though it does give you 48 ports. Arista also doesn't play games with licensing either which is nice.

If you want low power, get a lower port density switch (either a 8 port SFP+ Mikrotik or a generic Realtek 9313 based model), and all your stuff that does not need 10G can get plugged into a low power 1G 24 port switch, and then you'll have both low power consumption plus some 10G ports. But if you need all your ports to be 10G, there's no way around the power draw.

 

[BoGs]

Arista imo is the way to go if you do SFP (10+ Gbit) some switches ramp all the way down to 30% speed so they are quieter then they would otherwise be and some not so much if you get into QSFP route. Depends on the model.

If you do not care about all that and want some more friendly setup Mikrotik is the way, they have a 8, 16 and 24 port SFP I believe.

Unifi (i do not like it due to unable to program it locally) is going to be releasing a 24 port ECS switch with 16? 10 multigig? Take a look at the site.

 

[BackupProphet]

Brocade icx / Ruckus switches are really low power. Brocade Icx 6450 24 port non Poe version idles at 20watt, and super quiet

 

[BoGs]

Brocade icx / Ruckus switches are really low power. Brocade Icx 6450 24 port non Poe version idles at 20watt, and super quiet

6450 doesnt have 24 port 10gb like he had asked.

 

[Deleted member 48573]

if you set on 10G base-T, the netgear will be the lowest power.

The data center type SFP+ switches won't be all that low power either. My Arista 7050SX idles at 70 watts, though it does give you 48 ports. Arista also doesn't play games with licensing either which is nice.

If you want low power, get a lower port density switch (either a 8 port SFP+ Mikrotik or a generic Realtek 9313 based model), and all your stuff that does not need 10G can get plugged into a low power 1G 24 port switch, and then you'll have both low power consumption plus some 10G ports. But if you need all your ports to be 10G, there's no way around the power draw.

Sent you a DM...

 

[kapone]

I recently moved from a Brocade ICX 6610-24 (16x 10gb SFP+/2x 40gb QSFP+/24x 1gb-T) to a Mellanox SX6036. Reason? Needed more 40g/10g ports.

Now, neither of these switches offer 10GBase-T, but...I realized most of my gear has add-on NICs, which I can choose. That may or may not be applicable to @Hazily2019 , but if it is, the one time cost of acquiring SFP Nics does negate the long term power consumption of 10gBase-T (Bought a bunch of stock Mellanox CX3 40gb/56gb PRO (Roce v2 FTW!) Nics for ~$10/ea recently).

The Brocade 6610 used to idle ~80w with nothing connected. The Mellanox SX6036 idles ~35w... and has 36x 40g ports, that can be broken up into 64x 10gb ports (or a combination of 40g/10g) using breakout cables (You can find them relatively cheap, depending on the time and space continuum on fleabay...)

That power consumption though...35w for 36x/64x 40g/10g ports is pretty enticing.

 

[BoGs]

The Mellanox SX6036 idles ~35w... and has 36x 40g ports, that can be broken up into 64x 10gb ports (or a combination of 40g/10g) using breakout cables

Just make sure you read the manual for it as if you use the 4x10 ports it disables some ports, some cannot be broken out and some can only be 2x breakout

 

[BoGs]

and i forgot louder - was planning to do bootup / running videos for all my mellanox, brocade and arista switches to post to youtube as there are none that I could find just waiting to get a decent decible reader. Let me know if you thinking about SX6036 and happy to make a quick vid.

 

[kapone]

@BoGs - Already did all of that research.

That is where the 64x 10gb (or a combination of 40g/10g) breakout came from.



And the SX6036 supports throttling down the fans using software commands (fae...FTW), that's here the 35w number came from.

Edit: While not silent after throttling down the fans, it is very much acceptable in a rack, 3ft (or more) away from you.

 

[Deleted member 48573]

wow you guys are giving me a lot of information. I was thinking about the Arista 7050TX as well - these are around the $200 point on eBay. I assume these are simply plug-and-play ... but I have no idea how loud these get. Same with the Mellanox ... although I have heard that NVIDIA switches are insanely power hungry ...

 

[BoGs]

The choice is really RJ45 vs Fiber. If you want 10G RJ45 you cannot get 24 ports on low power. I have fiber all over my house and out to the shed as I standardized on SMF LC connections which is more expensive.

If you go for RJ45 make sure you check the switch as most switches are 1/10G which means if you have 2.5 or 5 ethernet cards it will negotiate at 1G. Multi gig is newish and expensive in used dc switches. You can find more 2.5G on Ebay now adays. The new unifi switch is 10G multi gig but it is expensive as it would be new.

If you do go for fiber add in the cost of of the optics. The cage is QSFP or SFP+ but you will need DAC (breakout 40G -> 10G) cables or Fiber cables ( Single Mode Fiber or Multi Mode Fiber ). If you plan to run just some 10G to computers in the same room DAC would work great at various lengths, once you get > 5M imo you would need to switch to fiber cables.

 

[Nnyan]

I recently moved from a Brocade ICX 6610-24 (16x 10gb SFP+/2x 40gb QSFP+/24x 1gb-T) to a Mellanox SX6036. Reason? Needed more 40g/10g ports. That power consumption though...35w for 36x/64x 40g/10g ports is pretty enticing.

What’s the noise like on the Mellanox?

 

[kapone]

What’s the noise like on the Mellanox?

Waaaay better than the Brocade. AFTER software control. I've set my fans to pretty much the minimum, before they start misbehaving, which in my case is ~16-17% PWM. That translates to ~4400rpm, if nothing's connected.

Once you start connecting things, the rpm will go up slowly as the switch tries to maintain temps.