The little TP-Link 8-port gigabit switch in my study has reached the limit of crap plugged into it so it’s time for a new one.
My requirements:
- 16x or more RJ45 gigabit ports
- At least one 10 gigabit ethernet uplink, SFP+ is fine but native RJ45 better
- Quiet as possible - doesn’t need to be fanless, just not datacentre grade screaming
Brand new on the market:
Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM
- Datasheet
- Price (shipped) - $269
- Transceiver - S+RJ10 ($100)
- Total price - $369
Aruba Instant On 1930 JL682A
TP-Link TL-SG3428X
Netgear GC728X
- Datasheet
- Price (shipped) - $413
- Transceiver - FS.com Netgear compatible SFP-10G-T ($92.40)
- Total price - $506
Ubiquiti USW-Pro-24
- Datasheet
- Price (shipped) - $578
- Transceiver - UF-RJ45-10G ($115)
- Total price - $693
Used:
- Cisco WS-C3750X-24T ($170) or WS-C3560X-24T ($109) with C3KX-NM-10GT ($295) - $400
- Juniper EX3200-24T ($139) or EX4200-24T ($120) with EX-UM-2X4SFP ($88) module & transciever ($93) - $301
- Juniper EX3300-24T ($550) and transceiver ($93) - $643
- HP 2920-24G ($129) with J9732A module ($439) - $568
- HP E3800-24G-2XG ($330)
After all this, what should I get? Specs wise there’s not much between them. There’s a little bit of difference in non-blocking throughput, but in reality I’d never hit that so it doesn’t matter to me.
I could take a punt on the Mikrotik or Aruba, but they’re not in stock for another month (early Feb is the ETA). The TP-Link and Netgear are close enough in price to the Ubiquiti that I’d just get the Ubiquiti.
There’s used enterprise gear and I’d like a Juniper or Cisco switch, but I predict they’re gonna be damn noisy in my otherwise almost silent study. I can’t be fucked modifying them with Nocuta’s more less noisy ones. So after almost half a day of searching, I’m probably just gonna cough up the cash for the Ubiquiti kit and enjoy having everything on the one dashboard.
I wish Aruba would make a security gateway/firewall device. The Instant On range is great bang for buck and a piece of piss to setup.