Cisco Switch

[IrfanKhan4904]

We have a total of 2500 students, and we need to use one switch as a core switch. Please suggest which switch would be the best to buy.

WS-C3650-24PS-E or Cisco C9200L-24P-4G-E

[Kasun Bandara · Accepted solution]

@IrfanKhan4904 hi, 3650 switches are EOL announced and its not recommended for future new deployment. 9200L is low spec switch which is not recommended to use as a core switch. you can try 9300 series if its for light use. for heavy use, try 9500 switches. also switch selection depends on the many facts. so i suggest you to consult the local partner.

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

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@IrfanKhan4904 wrote:
We have a total of 2500 students, and we need to use one switch as a core switch.

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If this is all the relevant information available, even a WS-C2924-XL-EN can be included in the list.  

Give us more information, like network design and budget for this entire exercise.

[MHM Cisco World · Accepted solution]

For Core use 9400/9500/9600

Dont use 9200/9300 as core.

This cisco recommendations 

MHM

[Jonatan Jonasson]

While a switch that is far along into their End-of-Life journey (The 3650 - https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-3650-series-switches/eos-eol-notice-c51-744426-b.html), is never the preferred choice, so out of those two the "other" would be the choice, the information provided isn't enough to provide a good recommendation overall.
And I'm guessing that the 9200L is probably not the best choice for this specific role.

There are multiple things to consider.

For example, is this just a Layer-2 consolidation point, or is this device expected to be doing Layer-3 (routing etc).

What features do you expect to use? (Routing protocols, how many networks & vlans, first hop redundancy, IPv6, security, etc.)

How is the overall network designed and connected? (ie since you're obviously not going to connect 2500 devices directly into this switch, what connection options do you need for interconnections to other devices, fiber vs copper, speed,  etc etc.)

And in this day and age, why would you be selecting a core device with only 1G links, including the uplinks.

So the whole selection process comes down to determining what you're going to use the device for, and how, and how it will be connected to other devices and fits into your network diagram.
And knowing that it'll be there for at least a few years, what's the forecast? Do you see the device being able to handle everything in 3-5 years?
And then reviewing the data-sheet for the device, and verifying that it's capable to do everything you want it to do, including having enough bandwidth and resources (cam/mac entries, arp, etc etc).

You're rarely deciding on one device at a time, the selection process should be based on the overall network design and requirements.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

As noted by others, 3650 series is no longer sold by Cisco and goes end of support 10/26, so the 9200 would probably be the better choice.

As to using either as a core switch, that's a very much it depends on the network.  All you've additionally noted there will be 2500 students (no servers?).  2500 edge ports would need 53 48 port switches.  So, if they were all 48 port switches, you may be unable to connect all directly to your core.

Likely any recent gen enterprise switch can do wire rate between all its ports, concurrently.  However, what often happens is multiple ingress ports may send to fewer egress ports, which cause congestion.  The more expensive switches usually can better deal with that, beyond just dropping traffic.  Also, the more expensive switches have other features useful in a larger network.  Heck, a $200 dollar consumer switch might also support all ports at wire speed, so there's more to selecting a switch based on its role and expected usage.  If not, go buy the $200 dollar switch.

Also, as other replies have noted, a good choice depends on more information.