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Core Switch advice

Genome_666
Level 1
Level 1

Hi everybody

I need some advice.

I have about 400+ devices on my network (let's say 1000 to provide for growth). They connect to different switches at different locations in the building which all connect to our current core switch (3com 4924).

I want to get rid of it and get a Cisco switch to replace it. What switch would be recomended to provide the connectivity I need and also to prioritize


traffic to certain servers that are connected directly into the core? The core switches on the Cisco site (6500 series) seems a bit over kill for my needs.

Any advice?

6 Replies 6

For an advice you need to provide more information.

1) How many Switches do you want to connect to the core?

2) How many Servers do you want to connect to the core?

3) Do you need 10Gig-Interfaces for the Uplinks or the servers?

Well we have about 27 switches that connect to the core and 15 servers. Since there is less than 500 devices at the moment they are all in one subnet so no layer 3 is needed for routing at the moment.

We don't even need 10Gig interfaces. Only a select few actually need to run services off the servers.

Anything else needed?

In that scenario I would tend to a stack of three 3750X-24. With that you have still enough ports if one switch dies but you can easily expand the switch when you want to grow.

But also with only 500 devices I would start to segement the network for a better managebility.

I had my eyes on the 3750x series as well.

If it were up to me I would segment it correctly butunfortunately I have my hands tied .

We have a HP procurve with the following spec:

Throughput up to 75.7 million pps

Routing/Switching capacity 101.8 Gbps

Switch fabric speed 105.6 Gbps

When I compare this to the Cisco 3750x I get the following:

Switching Fabric         160 Gbps

3750X-24T                   65.5 mpps

So do I replace the HP with the 3750x or not?

Is the HP the last non-cisco switch? Then get rid of it to have an infrastructure that is better manageble. If not, and the actual HP still works fine, why invest that amount of money?

Leo Laohoo
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

There are several options to choose from and amount of budget can play some factors here.

One question you forgot to address is Layer 3:  How are these sites connected and who's providing Layer 3 or MPLS.

Core-switch comes in three different flavours:  small, medium and large

1.  SMALL:  3560X/3750X

2.  Medium:  Catalyst 4500R+E with Sup7E or Catalyst 4500X or Catalyst 6500E with VS-Sup720 or VS-Sup2T.  (Only the 6500 will support "full" MPLS.  4500R+E and 4500X will only support "lite" VRF.)

3.  Large:  Nexus 7 with M1/M2 or F2 line cards to provide the routing.

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