Three key points for switch Selection

Today, with the popularity of network applications, the popularization of Gigabit Networks is becoming more mature. It is very important to select a Gigabit Switch with good overall performance, which is both cost-effective and applicable. Especially for customers who have low budget and low application requirements, they must meet the needs of high-speed and stable network transmission and be inexpensive, therefore, it is critical to select a Gigabit Switch.

Key Point 1: On-Demand principles

Do not be dazzled by GE switches that have different functions and a wide variety of features and are known as powerful and extremely expensive. Before deciding to purchase a product, you must carefully plan your network requirements, clarify the network requirements and performance, and do not blindly pursue high-performance and multi-functionality, because even the best functions are useful only when used. If the original network is upgraded, make full use of the original network equipment to reduce investment. In fact, if the demand is not complex, and the stability and security performance requirements are not to reach the telecom level, some domestic gigabit switches will be enough to meet the requirements. Therefore, the first principle of purchasing is to select a LAN based on the principles and needs.

Key 2: Brand Identification

Currently, the prices of gigabit switches sold in the market vary greatly between domestic and foreign products. As a working group level for Small and Medium networks and some large and medium-sized networks such as campus communities, it is ideal to select a domestic Gigabit Switch, after all, after several years of development, the technology of gigabit switches in China is already quite mature. The prices of products with similar functions at the same level are relatively stable and similar, so we must compare the prices with those of three. Currently, domestic brands such as Huawei, D-LINK, TP-LINK, and SPEED Networks in Layer 2 gigabit switches are quite good. They can all provide comprehensive Gigabit Switch products, huawei and D-LINK prices are high, TP-LINK, SPEED Networks prices are slightly lower, from the quality performance, in addition to the TP-LINK repair rate is higher, the other three are good performance.

Third key point: Function Evaluation

In the market, how do users get rid of the fog and find products that meet the characteristics of their own applications? How can we choose products with slightly different functions? This requires not only the Evaluation Indicators of traditional vswitches, but also the support of vswitches for some high value-added functions.

Generally speaking, evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of a vswitch should begin with three aspects: overall architecture, performance, and function. The overall architecture refers to the value of basic performance parameters, such as the port density, the maximum rate supported by the port, and the switching capacity of the switch device. This allows you to determine the location and grade of the device. At present, there are two types of gigabit switches on the port, one is m + 1g port, and the other is pure gigabit port. The first type is a transitional Gigabit Switch. It is applicable to applications that upgrade from a 10-Gigabit network to a 1-gigabit network, representative products are SPEED Networks SP2404G Series 24 port 100 M + 2 port 1000 M + 2 fiber expansion slots) and TP-Link TP-122624 port 100 M + 2 port 1000 M ), in terms of port scalability, the price of SP2404G is slightly higher than that of SP2404G. For vswitches with pure Gigabit ports, there are many options available on the market. I only recommend one SP2400GW24 port of SPEED Networks with 1000 M + two fiber expansion slots ).

In addition to the basic RFC2544 standard, throughput, latency, and packet loss rate, the performance of a vswitch also increases with the increase of user services and application depth, such as the number of MAC addresses, route table capacity (layer-3 Switch), number of ACLs, LSP capacity, and number of VPN supported. Take the number of MAC addresses as an example. The number of MAC addresses is the maximum number of MAC addresses that can be stored in the MAC address table of the vswitch. The more MAC addresses are supported, the higher the data forwarding rate. Generally, a Gigabit Switch can have more than 4 k mac addresses. For example, the SP2404G of SPEED Networks provides 4 k, and the SP2400GW provides 8 k.
Furthermore, the function is the most direct indicator to differentiate the advantages and disadvantages of vswitch devices. For a common access layer or a workgroup-level switch required by a LAN, simple QoS Assurance, security mechanisms, support for network management policies, spanning tree protocols, and VLANs are almost the same. For example, the SP2400GW of SPEED Networks supports Spanning Tree Protocol, port image, VLAN virtual network division), Port aggregation, IGMP Snooping, and broadcast storm control, console port control, Web page management, and other feature sets, and provides enhanced QoS features to further enhance network security and adapt to the needs of different network applications, is the best choice for building small and medium network core gigabit switches.