10Gbit Network Upgrade

[ericdarwin]

Hello,

We currently have 2 Unit of Catalyst 4503 Classic Chassis with WS-X4013+TS Supervisor Engine and WS-X4448-GB-RJ45, and one empty slot. We also have few unit of Catalyst 2960G distribution switches to connect to our workstation.

If we want to upgrade some of our server connection to 10Gbit RJ45 but leave all the workstation 1Gb as is but have big uplink connection to the core, what is the most cost effective solution to upgrade?

Thank you very much

Eric

[Leo Laohoo]

A classic 4K chassis can support a per-slot bandwidth of up to 6 Gbps.  So sticking a 10 Gbps line card is a complete waste of money. 

If you need to use 10 Gbps, then you may need to look into upgrading the chassis to a 4500R+E.  

You can get Cisco to offer a discount when you do a trade-in of your existing chassis and you can get a bundle (chassis, power supply and supervisor card).

[ericdarwin]

Hello Joseph and Leo

Thank you very much for the answer.

I will learn about the option

Thank again

Eric

[ericdarwin]

We have 128 workstation that currently at 1gb connection, however would like to have servers and storage connected using 10gb connection. If I have to build from scratch using catalyst 4500r+e chassis, what are the components that I need to purchase to accomodate this?

Thank you

[bsiapco]

Hello, ericdarwin.

  Just make sure you have Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(53)SG4 or beyond is required to support the  4500r+e chassis. By the way, are you already working with your Cisco partner or Sales engineer?

Kind Regards.

[Leo Laohoo]

Depends on your budget.  

I am not sure if your current chassis has maintenance contract but Cisco has just found another money-making scheme:  Service Contract with a Twist. 

If your chassis has gone past End-of-Sale then Cisco will slap a 20% (or more) extra for your maintenance contract.  

Sticking so many servers into a classic chassis ain't going to help you.  Over-subscription will, potentially, cause issues to your servers.  

Ideally, servers and ordinary clients shouldn't be in the same chassis/appliance.  

[ericdarwin]

Thank you Leo

[Joseph W. Doherty]

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Posting

The sup II-plus-10GE (or sup V-10GE - if you can obtain either) might be your most cost effective upgrade to get a couple of 10G links into your Classic 4503.

However, perhaps even more cost effective is using gig Etherchannel.  Your TS sup has 12 copper gig and 8 SFP gig wire-speed ports.