48 port managed switches

[todd]

Hello and Happy New Year.

We are getting ready to buy 8 48 port switches.  We have a Meraki MS220-24P That has POE. We do not need POE on these and I would like to just go to Cisco regular switches.

I see a bunch of options.  I know we want managed so we can dial into them and make changes. I know I want Gigabit speed. From there I do not see the difference between a $1500.00 and a $5000.00. There has to be a huge difference, I just do understand what it is.

Can someone point me to a document or video showing why spending the difference will be worth it?

[Mark Malone]

Hi

the diff is in the feature sets and backplanes that the hardware has how fast it can process traffic etc  , are you going catalyst or SMB like sg300s ?

so there is no exact sheet although it would be nice :) that shows all models and all diffs but you can use the data sheets for the device your looking at and compare it against another data sheet

as example if looking at sg300s but not sure you can see the hardware diffs in the data sheet below (just put part number + data sheet into google to get these )

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/small-business-smart-switches/data_sheet_c78-610061.html

diffs in price like that can sometimes mean the switch is only layer 2 while the expensive one is full layer 3 with all features enabled

[todd]

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I had to do some reading about the 2/3 layer.

We have 4/48 port Cisco Catalyst 2950's now that have worked great over the years.

10base-t/100base-TX

What would be the right model to go with this time around? 

[Mark Malone · Accepted solution]

If you put your switches under support but I'm guessing not if your still running 2950s as there eol years ? you should buy the latest 2960 release so you get the longest support period before they go end of life an are unable to be supported

If you don't support your switches through RMA  smartent etc with Cisco if it was me I would just move up to any 2960-S model which was released after the 2950 , the 2950s don't support layer 3 at all so just get the basic layer 2 2960 gig switches unless your planning on changing the design , these would be the non X series , X series can do routing too

any 2960 will be huge improvement anyway on the current switchs 

have a look at this doc shows you the types of 2960s available an what they can do , my only advice is go gig don't get a fast Ethernet switch , and a standard lanbase license will work fine for all layer 2 functions that a 2950 would do

example of 1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ICXB1M/ref=psdc_281414_t2_B006ON61Z0

2960s

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-2960-series-switches/product_data_sheet0900aecd80322c0c.html?cachemode=refresh

[todd]

Mark,

Thank you very much!!!!