Advice needed on switch purchase for new network.

[seanwaite]

Hoping here for some advice or direction to a project we have. We are  going to be delpoying a new network infrastructure based around VMWare  ESX. We will have 2 HP Proliant Servers, 2 ASA5510 (one active, one  standby), and possibly 2 switches. Now the obvious reasons we will have 2  ASA5510s is for failover, and both HP servers will be running different  application servers with the capability to fail over to the other  server).

In the attached drawing we made up a scenario  of how these new servers will be deployed. We are trying to reduce  single points of failure as much as possible within a budget. Our  problem is that these servers will be located off-site at a hosted data  center we have limited access to. We would like to reduce the  possibility of NIC, ports, and cables causing interuptions due to  failure. Right now we have one server connected to a 2912XL-EN via  etherchannel/NIC team. The idea of using NIC teaming was for redudancy  only. As we have expanded to two physical servers we are now considering bandwith increase as well as redudancy.

We are looking to upgrade with 2 switches, and  as shown in the diagram we would have each server connected to it's own  switch, with a 2nd line going to the other's switch, and then the 2  switches connected together via an etherchannel. The reason we are  looking at a 2nd switch is that while a support contract could solve the  problem quickly, we need to have downtime limited to minutes at most.

So  I guess the question for the experts is this. Looking at this diagram,  would it make more sense to get 2x 2960 switches, create a FlexStack,  and have the etherchannel from the server go to one port on one switch,  and the other cable to the 2nd switch? Would maybe looking at 3560 with  redudnant power supplies be more simple and effeciant? The point to all  of this is to reduce points of failure within a limit budget, and most  of all to minimize any and all downtime. The fear of having just one  switch is if that switch itself goes down, while a SmartNet would  resolve within 4 hours, we need to limit downtime to minutes.

[Mohamed Sobair]

Hi,

If you are looking for fault tolerant and fully redundant solution at the Access layer for your HP servers, as well as to keep in mind Future needs and requirement , I would then recommend 2 Catalyst 3750 Stack Switches, enabling layer-3 and QoS features as well.

You can have 2 ehterchannels, 1 ehterchannel from one server with 2 uplinks to each of the 3750 Stack, this will provide redundancy from the server side and the Stack side, also you move the layer-3 cability along with QoS and Security plus other features to the Access/distribution instead of having the traffic diverted directly to the Firewall. This will provide you with added advantages.

HTH

Mohamed

[seanwaite]

Thanks for reply Mohamed,

Given the budget we were looking at a 2960S-24TS-L,  and using FlexStack to combine the switches. The 2960 with Flexstack  should still provide redundancy if we span the etherchannel to ports on  each switch correct? If a switch, port, and/or cable goes down, the other switch should still remain operational and connectivity to and from servers should still work?

[Mohamed Sobair]

The 2960 is also a choice, yes it should. I proposed the 3750 since its a higher end switches that provide more features and performance. However, with your budget, you an still have the 2960 with flex stack and it should provide the redundancy you are looking for.

HTH

Mohamed

[esomarriba]

Hi Sean,

You should be A-OK using 2960S-24TS-L, keep in mind, Cisco 2960 is entry-level network devices, and you are limited on the Layer-3 QoS funtions.

HTH,

Elyinn.-