Server Switch Unit...Help need some general explanation
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about what is a server switch unit and when/why do you need one? I'm not into servers nor networks. I'm trying to help my sister-in-law whose tech told her to get a $5K Server Switch Unit (for a private network of 25 desktops and 3 servers) without giving an explanation about what it is and what does it do (Who's you daddy and...? - :-D, feel like Schwarzy there...). So if one of you has the light, I will appreciate the sharing or if I should post this under a specific topic, just let me know. Thanks in advance. PS: Googling didn't brought me the light on this one :(...
"Nothing is lost, Nothing is created, Everything is transformed" Lavoisier
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about what is a server switch unit and when/why do you need one? I'm not into servers nor networks. I'm trying to help my sister-in-law whose tech told her to get a $5K Server Switch Unit (for a private network of 25 desktops and 3 servers) without giving an explanation about what it is and what does it do (Who's you daddy and...? - :-D, feel like Schwarzy there...). So if one of you has the light, I will appreciate the sharing or if I should post this under a specific topic, just let me know. Thanks in advance. PS: Googling didn't brought me the light on this one :(...
"Nothing is lost, Nothing is created, Everything is transformed" Lavoisier
Not sure what they meant by "server switch", but generally switches fall into two catagories. Unmanaged & Managed. The latter typically has a serial port, and/or dedicated 10/100 port for setting it up. They'll support rate limiting, traffic shapping, vlan configuration, etc, etc... The former doesn't (ie: dumb switch). Unmanaged switches are relative cheap. Managed switches are not, and the more buffer memory / resources they have, the more they cost. 28 connections isn't much, and I'd be surprised if a managed switch was really necessary. Any 48-port 10/100/1000 pizza box would probably be more than adequate for a basic simple network. -- Ian
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Not sure what they meant by "server switch", but generally switches fall into two catagories. Unmanaged & Managed. The latter typically has a serial port, and/or dedicated 10/100 port for setting it up. They'll support rate limiting, traffic shapping, vlan configuration, etc, etc... The former doesn't (ie: dumb switch). Unmanaged switches are relative cheap. Managed switches are not, and the more buffer memory / resources they have, the more they cost. 28 connections isn't much, and I'd be surprised if a managed switch was really necessary. Any 48-port 10/100/1000 pizza box would probably be more than adequate for a basic simple network. -- Ian
28 connections may not be much, but it is 3 servers vs. 25 clients. If the servers only have one port each, a client can easily saturate a server. What the technician probably meant was: Have a managed switch and use port aggregation for the servers, i.e. each server uses 4 ports, giving every server the (theoretical) opportunity to feed 4 clients at full speed. Usually, only managed switches support link-aggregation. I have, sitting on my desk at home, 2 stackable Nortel switches with 24/4 (1000BaseT/SMF) ports each. Both are managed Layer-3 Switches / Routers. Bought them at the local court auction website (stuff taken from criminals is auctioned online with a 1 EUR starting price) for 5 EUR each (no kidding!). The switches were made in April 2007. I feel like I took some candy from a child. The hardware is worth around 12000 EUR. I don't even know what all the items on the configuration screen mean :D Brilliant. I am trying to say: Have a look around local auctions (NOT eBay). And whatever you decide to do, don't use Hubs. They will kill your network.
Cheers, Sebastian -- "If it was two men, the non-driver would have challenged the driver to simply crash through the gates. The macho image thing, you know." - Marc Clifton
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28 connections may not be much, but it is 3 servers vs. 25 clients. If the servers only have one port each, a client can easily saturate a server. What the technician probably meant was: Have a managed switch and use port aggregation for the servers, i.e. each server uses 4 ports, giving every server the (theoretical) opportunity to feed 4 clients at full speed. Usually, only managed switches support link-aggregation. I have, sitting on my desk at home, 2 stackable Nortel switches with 24/4 (1000BaseT/SMF) ports each. Both are managed Layer-3 Switches / Routers. Bought them at the local court auction website (stuff taken from criminals is auctioned online with a 1 EUR starting price) for 5 EUR each (no kidding!). The switches were made in April 2007. I feel like I took some candy from a child. The hardware is worth around 12000 EUR. I don't even know what all the items on the configuration screen mean :D Brilliant. I am trying to say: Have a look around local auctions (NOT eBay). And whatever you decide to do, don't use Hubs. They will kill your network.
Cheers, Sebastian -- "If it was two men, the non-driver would have challenged the driver to simply crash through the gates. The macho image thing, you know." - Marc Clifton
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28 connections may not be much, but it is 3 servers vs. 25 clients. If the servers only have one port each, a client can easily saturate a server. What the technician probably meant was: Have a managed switch and use port aggregation for the servers, i.e. each server uses 4 ports, giving every server the (theoretical) opportunity to feed 4 clients at full speed. Usually, only managed switches support link-aggregation. I have, sitting on my desk at home, 2 stackable Nortel switches with 24/4 (1000BaseT/SMF) ports each. Both are managed Layer-3 Switches / Routers. Bought them at the local court auction website (stuff taken from criminals is auctioned online with a 1 EUR starting price) for 5 EUR each (no kidding!). The switches were made in April 2007. I feel like I took some candy from a child. The hardware is worth around 12000 EUR. I don't even know what all the items on the configuration screen mean :D Brilliant. I am trying to say: Have a look around local auctions (NOT eBay). And whatever you decide to do, don't use Hubs. They will kill your network.
Cheers, Sebastian -- "If it was two men, the non-driver would have challenged the driver to simply crash through the gates. The macho image thing, you know." - Marc Clifton
There was no mention about the need for trunking (link-agg), but I agree its usually only found on managed boxes. However, I'd still be surprised of this tiny network needed it. 28 connections is still next to nothing. Once you hit hundreds of ports (large office), then yes. Without know what they're doing, its difficult to know what's best. For a typical office, assuming a bunch of developers doing regular builds, an unmanaged box is fine. 1Gbps provides 38 MBits/user, which is perfectly adequate unless they're rendering, streaming video, or throwing gigabytes around constantly. In other words, those three servers would be the limiting factor before the switch. -- Ian
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about what is a server switch unit and when/why do you need one? I'm not into servers nor networks. I'm trying to help my sister-in-law whose tech told her to get a $5K Server Switch Unit (for a private network of 25 desktops and 3 servers) without giving an explanation about what it is and what does it do (Who's you daddy and...? - :-D, feel like Schwarzy there...). So if one of you has the light, I will appreciate the sharing or if I should post this under a specific topic, just let me know. Thanks in advance. PS: Googling didn't brought me the light on this one :(...
"Nothing is lost, Nothing is created, Everything is transformed" Lavoisier
More than likely, he means a KVM, or Keyboard, Video, Mouse switcher. It allows you to use one keyboard, mouse and monitor to control all computers in the rack. $5k is a bit much though, so i don't know what that would be.
-- Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?