Tag Archives: 48-port switch

What Are the Commonalities of Switches Supporting Cumulus Linux

As the first full-featured Linux based operating system (OS), Cumulus Linux has injected great possibilities and new vitality in networking field in these two years. Due to its great effort in open networking, Cumulus Linux has been one of the three leading OSs in the market. The another two are IP Infusion OcNOS and Pica8 PICOS. Recently, the collaboration between FS and Cumulus Networks has been made. The N-series open switches from FS will be pre-installed the latest Cumulus Linux OS to customers. At the moment of their joint effort in achieving open networking, we are going to make an analysis of the similar features of the open manageable switch supported by Cumulus Linux.

FS Collaborates with Cumulus Networks

Figure 1: FS Collaborates with Cumulus Networks

An Overview of Cumulus Linux

Cumulus Linux is a flexible open network operating system, which can be installed on various open switches, including the layer 2 switch and layer 3 switches. The code used to build Linux is free and available for users to view or edit. Therefore, it looks like the world’s largest data center that allows users to automate, customize and scale using web-scale principles. After the installation of the Cumulus Linux OS, the open switch can act as a Linux server.

Cumulus Linux

Figure 2: Cumulus Linux

Similarities of Open Switches Supporting Cumulus Linux

Featured with supporting a broad partner ecosystem, the Cumulus Linux gives customers more options and flexibility in data center networking regarding switch type, CPU, chip type, and supported transceivers.

Switch Type

Generally, open switches that support Cumulus Linux are bare mental switches coming with open network install environment (ONIE). In that case, no matter you have a brite box switch like Cisco switch, or a white box switch like FS switch, Cumulus Linux can be accessible to them. Nowadays, in the market of open switches, the 32-port and 48-port switches with 40G/100G transmission speed are commonly applied by enterprise users. Considering their high-density and greater agility needs for networking, the open switches are mostly layer 3 switches so as to achieve spine-leaf or overlay architectures.

CPU

The open switch CPU that supports Cumulus Linux OS usually comes in three types: ARMv7, PowerPC, and x86_64. Among these three types, x86_64 is the most popular one, adopted by most vendors, such as Dell, HPE, Mellanox, and FS.

Chip Type
Chips of Open Switches

Figure 3: Chips of Open Switches

Currently, Broadcom chip and Mellanox chip are the major roles of switch chip. The Mellanox type is usually used by Mellanox itself or Penguin. Therefore, the Broadcom type dominates the largest switch chip market share, installed by the most brand vendors or the third party suppliers.

Supported Transceivers

Since most open switches support high-speed transmissions, the matching transceivers are QSFP28, QSFP+, and SFP28. Only some 10G and 1G open switches will need to use SFP+ and SFP transceivers. By the way, viewing the trend, you will find 25G Ethernet has been deployed by many enterprise users in recent years for high bandwidth need. Accordingly, the 25G open switch has been a more economical and efficient choice than 1G or 10G switches. Also, the 25G switch will be the best solution to pave the road for the upcoming 100G/400G Ethernet in the future.

Summary

Just like the agility and simplicity the Cumulus Linux has advocated, it brings a truly economical and open network environment for users. With so many choices for open switch type, CPU, chip, and supported transceivers, it liberates the choices for open switches, which begets an open networking market in the end.

Do I Need a Gigabit Switch or 10/100Mbps Switch?

Ethernet network speeds have evolved significantly over time and typically range from Ethernet (802.11) at 10Mbps, Fast Ethernet (IEEE 802.3u) at 100Mbps, Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3-2008) at 1000Mbps and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3a) at 10Gbps. Meanwhile, Ethernet switches have also escalated from 10/100Mbps switches to Gigabit switches, 10GbE switch, and even 100GbE switches. The topic came up frequently that “Do I Need a Gigabit Switch or 10/100Mbps Switch?” Gigabit switch vs 10/100Mbps switch, which do I need to satisfy my network speeds requirement? This post will give you the answer.

Ethernet Speed

Gigabit Switch: the Mainstream on Network Switch Market

A Gigabit switch is an Ethernet switch that connects multiple devices, such as computers, servers, or game systems, to a Local Area Network (LAN). Small business and home offices often use Gigabit switches to allow more than one device to share a broadband Internet connection. A gigabit switch operates in the same manner, only at data rates much greater than standard or Fast Ethernet. People can use these switches to quickly transfer data between devices in a network, or to download from the Internet at maximum speeds of 1000Mbps. If a switch says “Gigabit”, it really means the same thing as 10/100/1000, because Gigabit switches support all three speed levels and will auto-switch to the appropriate one when something is plugged in. The following is a Gigabit 8 port poe switch with 8 x 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports.

8 port poe gigabit switches

10/100Mbps Switch: Still Alive and Well for Some Reason

10/100Mbps switch is a Fast Ethernet switch released earlier than Gigabit Ethernet switch. The data speed of 10/100Mbps switch is rated for 10 or 100Mbps. When a network switch says “10/100”, it means that each port on the switch can support both 10Mbps and 100Mbps connection speeds, and will usually auto-switch depending on what’s plugged into it. Currently, few devices run at 10Mbps, but it is still alive on the market for some reason. Actually, 10/100 is sufficient for internet browsing and Netflix. But if you will be doing more than one thing with your network connection, such as file transfers, or the set-top box, I would recommend you go with the Gigabit switch.

10/100Mbps Switch

Gigabit Switch vs 10/100Mbps Switch: How to Choose?

Network engineers who refresh the edge of their campus LAN encounter a fundamental choice: Stick with 100Mbps Fast Ethernet or upgrade to Gigabit Ethernet (GbE). Vendors will undoubtedly push network engineers toward pricier GbE, but network engineers need to decide for themselves which infrastructure is right for the business. Currently, Gigabit switch is much more popular than Fast Ethernet 10/100Mbps switch. Because gigabit switch used in tandem with a gigabit router will allow you to use your local network at speeds up to ten times greater than 10/100Mbps switch. If either of these component are not gigabit, the entire network will be limited to 10/100 speeds. So, in order to use the maximum amount of speed your network can pump out, you need every single component in your network (including you computers) to be gigabit compliant. In addition, by delivering more bandwidth and more robust management, Gigabit switches are also more energy efficient than 10/100Mbps switches. This offers enterprises the opportunity to lower their power consumption on the network edge.

Conclusion

There’s a multitude of switch options to choose from on the dazzling market. So, before determining the right switch for your network, you’re supposed to have a close look at your current deployment and future needs. But for most cases, we recommend you buy Gigabit Ethernet devices instead of Fast Ethernet devices, even if they cost a little bit more. FS provides a full set of Gigabit switches, including 8 port switch, 24 port switch, 48 port switch, etc. With these high performance Gigabit Ethernet switches, your local network will run faster with better internet speed.

Related articles: FS.COM Gigabit Switch Selection Guide

                             Fast Ethernet vs Gigabit Ethernet

48 Port 10GB Switch Selection: What Is the Right Choice?

The advent of big data, virtualization and cloud computing are pushing higher speed network adoption. As such, data center networks are going through a profound change – in which 40GE has become ubiquitous and 10GE a must. Network managers have reaped great benefits by deploying 10G Ethernet switch at the edge of the large professional network, which makes 10G SFP+ switch a choice for speed and productivity. In the midst of various 10G Ethernet switch, a 48-port 10Gb switch is considered as an optimal solution for handling data traffic that delivers great scalability. Then how to choose the right 48 port 10gb switch? We’re going to explore it in this article.

Why Do I Need a 48 Port 10GB Switch?

10G Ethernet switch is a cost-effective solution compared to multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports, while delivers substantially better throughput and latency. It is already well established in IT industry and we’ve seen massive adoption of 10G infrastructure. Density, power and cooling of 10G SFP+ switch are key motivators for deployment of data center network. With compelling improvement in bandwidth, port density, latency and power consumption. 10G SFP+ switch has become the interconnect of choice for latency sensitive application with enhanced reliability and network performance. 10G Ethernet switch comes into various port configuration, and a 10gb 48 port switch is the most future-proofing one with abundant application in business oriented network. It increases the total available bandwidth, the reduced power consumption in cables and switch ports, and overall reduction in infrastructure costs.

48 port 10gb switch

Common 48 Port 10GB Switch Comparison

As the need for 48 port 10 GbE switch spurring, vendors also compete to offer 10G Ethernet switch with advanced function and decreased cost. Here we compare some commonly seen 48-port 10GbE switch along with FS.COM N5850-48S6Q 48 port 10GbE switch, including parameters about their port combination, switching capacity, latency, power consumption and  10Gb switch 48 port price.

Model
Edge-core AS5712-54X
Cisco WS-C3850-48XS-S
Dell Networking S4048-ON
HPE 5900AF (JC772A)
N5850-48S6Q
SFP+ Ports
48
48
48
48
48
QSFP+ Ports
6
4
6
4
6
Switch Class
L2 and L3
L3
L2 and L3
L3
L3
Switching Capacity
720 Gbps
1280 Gbps
1.44Tbps full-duplex
1280 Gbps
1.44Tbps full-duplex
Latency
720 ns
600ns
680 ns
Max Power Drew
282 W
234.35 W
260 W
200W
Forwarding Rate
1 Bpps
909 Mpps
1080 Mpps
1 Bpps
Price
$5,095.00
$7,970 00
$7,475.96
$9522.52
$4,419.00

When selecting a 10G SFP+ switch, it all comes down to two things: application and budget. Your application of the 48-port 10GE switch partially determines several factors, such as port configuration, switching capacity, power consumption and switch class. The port configuration and speed are relative to switching capacity. So you have to consider the amount of traffic to run through this 48-port 10GE switch and select one that can accommodate all the data flow. Power consumption on the other hand is also very essential as it defines the operating cost in the long run, a power efficient switch can save you a great amount of money. All the 10G Ethernet switch in the table have very similar port combination and they are all L2/L3 switches. As for these 48-port 10Gb switch price, N5850-48S6Q has unsurpassed benefits over the others.

Deep Dive into FS.COM 48 Port 10GB Switch N5850-48S6Q

This 48 port 10GE switch N5850-48S6Q is a 10G SDN switch, which is designed to meet the high-performance, availability, and network-scaling requirements of enterprise and cloud data centers. It provides full line-rate switching at Layer 2 or Layer 3 across 48 x 10GbE ports and 6 x 40GbE uplinks, delivering 1.44Tbps switching capacity for the most demanding applications. This 48 port 10GE switch can be used either as a Top-of-Rack switch, or as part of a 10GbE or 40GbE spine-leaf fabirc. All ports support full L2/L3 features, IPv4/IPv6 and OpenFlow for high scalability and Software-defined Network (SDN) for ease of operation. Besides, N5850-48S6Q 48 port 10GE switch delivers excellent low latency (680 ns) and power efficiency in a PHYless design. While support for advanced features, including MLAG, VxLAN, SFLOW, SNMP, MPLS etc, this 48 port 10G Ethernet switch is ideal for traditional or fully virtualized data center.

fs.com 48-port 10ge switch

Conclusion

48 port 10GB switch has made a great leap forward to satisfy the demand for increased network performance, reliability and scalability. The need for 10 Gigabit Ethernet spans all markets and business types, as technology marches forward, these 10G Ethernet switches will no doubt drop in cost and increase in capability. Equipped with higher level of hardware and software reliability design, FS.COM 48 port switch offers compelling reliability and scalability improvements. For more information, welcome to visit our site.

Related Article: How to Choose a Suitable 48-Port PoE Switch?