atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX Networking Miracle needed

Alright you guru's. I need an L2/L3 switch, Here is the kick.

The customer will be upgrading the network soon. From Cat5E to either fiber or Cat6 (they want to run a 10 gig network). They have tapped there 1 gig gear and still don't think its fast enough.

We will be installing either 10Gbe copper nic's or intel pro 10Gbe fiber nic's in all of the existing machines, servers and printers were applicable.

My problem is I cant seem to find a switch that is suitable. Most of them have backbone's at 10 gig and up. Maybe I am looking in the wrong places. Any help would be great.

List of possibles were Nortel passport 8600, Cisco 6500 series, IBM blade series and the black diamond. I don't have a clue after hours of research. It seems that most if not all the gear listed is enterprise and or provider related but nothing for the little guy (24 machine).

Hewlett Packard

The ProCurve Switch 6400cl series switches are 6-port 10 GbE stackable with optional 10 GbE add-on modules. Loaded with full layer 3 features, the 6400cl series switches offer low-cost 10 GbE for small high-performance aggregation of clusters of gigabit switches. Ideal for consolidating multiple wiring closets, the... More
The ProCurve Switch 6400cl series switches are 6-port 10 GbE stackable with optional 10 GbE add-on modules. Loaded with full layer 3 features, the 6400cl series switches offer low-cost 10 GbE for small high-performance aggregation of clusters of gigabit switches. Ideal for consolidating multiple wiring closets, the 6400 series offers the highest bandwidth on the market today for Gigabit.

Check out the Extreme Networks. BlackDimond Series. 10808 or 8800 series switchs. Here is a Link :thumb:

Pointdexter: it looks as if I can use the switches as they are but will need to stack them. I will not be linking gig switches to them for aggregation. Thanks for the idea. I have one question if you don't mind the PM?

ALLN1: I looked at the extreme line "black diamond" however their gear will not suit my needs. Thanks for looking out for me though.

Keep in mind this will be 10Gbe to the desk. Thanks for all the hard work and replies guys.
Keep them coming if you have other ideas

pm away

WRichey - just out of interest, what on earth are they running that demands 10Gb to the desktop? Most PC's couldn't use data at that rate, and as for printers, most would have difficult spitting out paper fast enough to keep up with 100Mb, never mind 10Gb! This must be one heck of an impressive system these guys are running!

They are a media company (graphics and skins) for a large store chain here. The files moving range between 30 and 50 gigs. His moto "time is money" and I aint waitin 5 minutes for a file to move.

Yeah! I think that definitely ranks as "pretty impressive" - they must have more RAM in each workstation than most companies have in their whole network!
There is the Fujitsu XG 10Gb Switch Family to consider, though they are anything but cheap! I'd be surprised though if cost will stop your clients - true, the only switches available are enterprise class, but then the hardware these guys are connecting must be enterprise class to match. (There's no point in firing data at a PC on a 10Gb connection, if it's got a hard disc that can only accept it at 100Mbps!)
Although most hard drives can burst at much higher speeds, even the best can only sustain speeds of around 125Mbps, so to benefit from 10Gbe the workstations will need to have multiple drives with high speed controllers, or 10's of Gb of RAM - either way, they'll be pretty expensive!
Intel recommend their 10Gbe fibre NICs for network backbones and long distance trunks - enterprise functions.
I'd guess if your client is using enterprise class workstations, enterprise class servers, enterprise class printers, and enterprise class NIC's, unfortunately he's going to have to live with the cost of enterprise class switches too.