C3850 vs C3650

[a12288]

We would like to refresh our legacy C4000, C3524 with either C3850 or C3650, The overall ports count is around 10,000. The Unified access is still up in the air, I cannot find any major difference between C3850 and C3650 (I don't think the stack backplane speed difference matters, fixed vs modular uplink won't matter neither). And that makes me wonder which one I should choose to cover my needs (data, PoE voice, etc, etc) to have the investment protected. Not quite understand why Cisco introduce two product lines which are so close, and make me think which one Cisco will kill. Are you having, or had you faced the similar dilemma in the past? I would like to hear your comments. Thanks. Leo

[Leo Laohoo]

mGIG is coming.  So you would want to hold off until the product is unvieled in the next few months.  Initial information is that mGIG is only available to the 3850 and a brand new line card on the 4500/Sup8 chassis.  

No word is yet on whether mGIG will be made available to the 3650.   mGIG is NOT backward compatible.  So if you purchased a non-mGIG capable switch, you can't just upgrade the IOS and mGIG is enabled.  You'll need to buy a brand new switch that supports mGIG.

[Reza Sharifi]

Have a look at this comparison chart.  These 2 models are very close when it comes to number.  If you need a little more capacity 3850 probably a better choice, but 3650 appears to be SDN ready according to its data sheet.

http://www.ipv6.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-2960-x-series-switches/sales-tool-c96-730473.pdf

HTH

[Leo Laohoo]

Forgot another thing:  Do your maths.  

A few years ago, we did the maths to do a widespread upgrade of switches.  We found that if we wanted to cost out a stack of four 3750X (3750X & 3850 are priced the same), it is CHEAPER to get a 4510R+E chassis with Sup 7E bundle (Sup7E and Sup8E are priced the same) and appropriate line card. 

[a12288]

We did, most of our wiring closets require 2 or 3 x 48 ports, so stackable switches makes more sense. btw, thanks for the info of mGIG. Leo