A Not-So-New Switch

In the previous post I focused a bit on a high level what-will-I-do for the network as a whole. In this post let’s dig into my thoughts for a new switch.

I want to replace the ER-24 and a small 8 port TP-Link switch but keep the ER-16-POE as it provides the PoE for my Unifi access points and cameras and I’m not planning to change that part of my network at this time.

So the first question I need to answer is: How many ports do I need? A quick count says that I’m currently using 20 non-PoE ports, and I would like to keep that with room to expand. So, I’m setting a minimum of 32 ports with the ability to support both 1GbE and 10GbE. I could always move some of the 1GbE stuff to the ER-16-POE if needed.

As previously mentioned, STH has a long list of “affordable” 10GbE switches, but after a not-so-quick search, something with at least 32 ports is not so affordable. Next up… eBay. Several days later searching for any option I could think of, I came to a few conclusions:

In typical eBay fashion, the folks selling 10GbE switches think that I should be happy to pay them more than the new price for whatever they have.
That I have very few requirements for a switch: Managed 10GbE, minimum 32 ports, and support VLAN’s. Anything above this would be a nice-to-have but not a requirement.
The only thing a recently released switch offers that an older switch can’t is better energy efficiency. Beyond that, what? While this might be something I regret later, I can live with something that isn’t the lowest current draw on the market.

With this in mind, a good option for a switch is something from the older enterprise genre. As almost all data centers have already, or are still in the process of, updating to 400GbE infrastructure; a lot of very good enterprise gear can be had for pennies on the dollar and 10GbE switches are on the low end of this spectrum.

It’s already too late to make a long story short, but after even more consideration I decided to go with a Mellanox SX1024. It provides 48 SPF+ cages and 12 QSPF+ cages with 1.92Tb/s of non-blocking throughput. After a bit of a wait, I was able to pick one up for $150 including taxes and delivery. Even though the 13 year old SX1024 is considered obsolete by most, it’s still a very capable switch and meets my very simple requirements. Compared to something like a MikroTik CRS317-1G-16S-RM which is in the 5 year old range and has only 16 1GbE ports at a current price of $450, the SX1024 looks like a good option. The downside is that it will require a bit of effort compared to something newer, and power consumption will be higher. I can live with both of these.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Comments and questions are welcome.