LAN switch configuration and purchase Guide

When purchasing LAN switches, you should pay attention to the following points:
● Shape
LAN switches have two shapes. Generally, a vswitch with less than 16 ports is a desktop switch. A rack-mounted switch with more than 16 ports can be placed in a standard 19 inch rack or cabinet. In addition to fixed Ethernet interfaces, some vswitches often provide 1 ~ Two expansion slots are used to configure different extension modules, such as optical transceiver module, three-layer switching module, and stack module.
● Port Rate
LAN switches should support 10 Mbps, Mbps, and Mbps line rates, and the following types of networks:
10 BASE-T Ethernet over IEEE 802.3 unshielded twisted pair wires (UTP.
IEEE 802.3u unshielded twisted pair over 100BASE-T Ethernet.
1000BASE-TX Gigabit Ethernet over IEEE 802.3ab 5 UTP cables.
IEEE 802.3z multimode and Single-Mode Optical Fiber Gigabit Ethernet 1000BASE-SX and 1000BASE-LX.
Currently, the mainstream products on the market are 802.3 M switches that comply with IEEE and IEEE 802.3u standards.
● Board bandwidth
The bandwidth is calculated in full duplex mode. For example, a 24-port Mbit/s switch, the backboard bandwidth should be 24x2x100 MB = 4.8 GB. If the switching capability of a vswitch is greater than the bandwidth calculated using the above formula, the switch is usually configured with an expansion slot, and the excess switching capability is prepared for the expansion module.
● Functions
There are many types of vswitches on the market, which can be divided into four categories based on the functions of the vswitch. When purchasing a vswitch, you can purchase it based on the functions you need.
① Common Switch
A common switch provides the most basic data exchange function without any configuration. The price is generally less than 1000 yuan.
② Smart switches with network management functions
This type of switch can provide extended features such as IEEE 802.1Q Vlan, IEEE 802.1X port authentication, stacking, port aggregation, SNMP support, MAC Address binding, and port speed limit. The price of such vswitches is generally 3000 ~ 8000 yuan.
③ Layer-3 switches with routing
Based on smart switches, these switches also provide layer-3 routing functions, including dynamic routing protocols RIP1/2, OSPF, Static Routing, and access control lists. The price ranges from 20000 ~ About 80000 yuan.
④ High-end core switch
High-end core switches generally adopt a box-type structure and provide multiple expansion slots. Different function boards and interface boards can be configured as needed. This type of switch features high data forwarding speed, rich interfaces, and good stability. It is very suitable for applications in large networks.

Related Articles]

• LAN switch configuration and purchase extension Functions
  

• Basic knowledge of LAN switch configuration and purchasing
  

• Cisco LAN switch configuration