Small Business LAN

[travleen1]

I am working with a small business that wants to upgrade to either Linksys or Cisco switches. We have about 70 hosts and to provide scalability we need about 96 ports. Since budget and security are both major factors, what would be recomended in terms of which of the brands and what line of switches.

[Leo Laohoo]

Hi Travis,

If you want a Layer-2 switch only, then the 2960 series is your choice.

The difference between the 2960 and the 2975 is that the 2975 is a stack-able switch and the 2975 comes only in 48-ports only model.

Here's some information about the 2960:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6406/prod_models_comparison.html

Data Sheet Cisco Catalyst 2975 Switch with LAN Base Software

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps10081/data_sheet_c78-502660.html

[Leo Laohoo]

Just in case you need more information, you can also look at the interactive Cisco Product Advisor http://www.ciscowebtools.com/ProductAdvisor.

Cisco Portable Product Sheet

http://www.cisco.com/web/partners/tools/quickreference/index.html

[route2null]

My rule of thumb is to always buy Cisco unless forced to do otherwise. I don't even offer up alternatives to mgmt anymore.

I'm going to assume you don't need L3 featurs and that your 70 hosts are primarily single homed workstations versus multihomed Servers. Cisco 2950 / 2960 is the way to go. If cost is a deal breaker look at used equipment from a reputable vendor.

[Leo Laohoo]

Hi Travis,

Forgot another one ... At the start of this year, Cisco released a new switch model, the 2350. It's a 48-port, Layer 2-only switch.

Strong points:

- 2x 10Gb Fiber Optic -OR- 4x SFP ports

- Forwarding rates similar to a 3750 (plain)

- Geared for top-of-the-rack server switch (doesn't stop anyone from making this into a desktop access switch, but hey! Whatever makes your boat float.)

Hope this helps too.