I was curious on the benefits of a large-chassis switch like the 4500-E vs a stack of smaller switches like the 3750Xs. I need to upgrade my access-layer switches and am debating replacing the existing 4506 (216 10/100 ports PoE) with a stack of 3750Xs. Currently they would only be layer-2 switches with maybe 5 VLANs in use.
Large Chassis:
Pros:
Only requires 2 power supplies to power everything vs individual power supplies per switch.
Superivsor hardware can be upgraded seperately
Various media types can easily be integrated by purchasing the necessary line card.
Cons:
Per-slot bandwidth restrictions.
Potentially wasted space if not all slots in chassis are used
If non-redundant supervisor fails, entire switch goes down.
Potentially higher initial cost.
Stack of smaller switches:
Pros:
Can easily add / remove stack members
Increased backplane bandwidth, 64gbps stacking ports on 3750Xs
Cheaper initial cost, can grow as needed.
If a switch fails, only devices connected to the switch go down and the rest of the stack still functions.
Cons:
Lots of physical hardware to manage
More power supplies to deal with.
Increase cooling needed(?)
Can anyone else add to this list? Keep in mind, this will be for my ACCESS layer, connecting to end-user PCs, so various media types aren't really a concern.
