So many CISCOs, so little time...

[joker]

Hi all.

Long time reader, first time poster.

I'm setting up our cage at our new datacentre here and I'm not sure what setup to use, in regards to switches/routers

Basically will have a 1Gigabit connection through a GBIC card.

I will have about 3 racks, each with a 2924XL switch. I want to link those 3 switches to a main switch "A" that will be connected to the router "B".

The network will host about 90 servers with variying traffic for colocation split up among the 2924XLs, so the "A" and "B" must be able to support large amounts of traffic simultaneously.

Also, is there equipment that can combine "A" and "B" into one? Like the Catalyst6500. That's what I have now and it's just not working, so I'm looking for something to replace it that is smaller, cheaper, and better suited for our needs.

I was looking at the 3500XL, can they act as routers too? Would love to hear your suggestions!

[tkadri]

Hi Jeff,

There are a lot of options here to consider. A few points to think about:

1) Will you use copper or fibre to carry your Gb traffic? Gb over copper runs up to 100m and from what I've heard has no downsides compared to fibre. If your racks are within 100m from each other and you have no need to run further in the future, then I would suggest copper as the cheaper option. If you have to go for the fibre option, then you need to start thinking about GBICs.

2) Have you purchased your 2924's already? If not, then you have to go for the newer 2950 models that have replaced them - the 2950T-24 is a 24 port 10/100 switch plus two 10/100/1000 copper ports for uplinks. If you already have the 2924M-XL switches, then you can buy Gb copper or fibre modules for them.

3) Coming to your direct question re: the router and switch functioning as a single device - you need to look around for a Layer 3 switch. This is where the above considerations come into play (your choice of copper or fibre). The cheapest option when looking for this switch would be the 3550-12T - this has ten 10/100/1000BaseT copper ports and two GBIC ports. The other option would be the 3550-12G - this has ten GBIC ports and two 10/100/1000BaseT copper ports (the GBICs are extra of course).

I hope I haven't missed the mark with my response! Good luck...

Regards,

Tariq.