Cisco 300 Series Switches

S

Skud

Gawd
Joined
Sep 4, 2002
Messages
587
Anyone have anything good or bad to say about them? I'm looking at getting the SG300-10 for ~$200 CAN (8/10 Port 10/100/1000).

They look pretty nice:

- Lifetime warranty (5 years after the product is discontinued, original owner only)
- Lifetime updates, no need to register. I went onto Cisco's site and downloaded the latest no problem
- IPv6 support
- Looks to be layer 3 "lite". Wirespeed IPv4 routing (no IPv6 routing support yet)
- Supports STP/MSTP (unlike the HP 1810), ACLs, QoS, dual image, SNMP 1/2c/3, LACP, IGMP Snooping 1/2/3, 802.1x dynamic VLAN, 10k jumbo frames,etc...
- Fanless

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps10898/data_sheet_c78-610061.html

Only downside I see is the lack of a CLI, but I read on the Cisco support forums that one is coming. I don't know how truthful that is though nor do I know what quality the CLI will be or even if it will be IOS-like.

I was going to go for an HP 1810G-8, but I think this Cisco is the better option. Looks like these replace the "Linksysco" SR series. They look more like a Cisco switch, and Cisco is taking control of the product support.

Thoughts?

Thanks!!
Riley
 
I think I'm going to jump on it tomorrow.... I'll let you all know how it goes.

Riley
 
I'm in the market for a switch as well and was looking at the 1810-24 but this would be perfect if it had the CLI. Layer 3 static routes is a nice plus, the HP 1910 has that feature but people say the re-badged 3Com stuff is not as good.

Looking forward to your comments.
 
Hmmm, the 300 series is looking interesting. I normally stay away from the Cisco Small Business line after the debacle that was the ce500 series or switches. Still cursing at my boss for selling those. The Cisco SG300-10 (SRW2008-K9-NA) 10-port Gigabit Managed Switch does look very nice for the price. Might have to look at that more closely, does have a serial port on it, I would imagine there has to be a CLI in there somewhere...
 
One thing I've found is that there seems to be a LOT of confusion over the product numbers..

For example, the old SR series 10 port was SRW2008-NA while the new switches (the 300 series) is SRW2008-K9-NA. To see how bad it is, just put the new model number into ebay and watch all the old switches come up with the new number.

What's even weirder is that the 300 series also carries another number, SG300-10.

I'd say that unless the vendor has a picture of the new style switch be very leery of what you're actually getting.

Riley
 
I have the SG300-10 and it works beautifully. I use it primarily for its port mirroring however the web config offers much more than that.

...and it does have a serial port on the back if you wish to configure via console.
 
My unit came in today and I've had a few minutes to poke around inside.. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with it. I mean, for $200 you get a pretty nice switch with a lot of stuff built-in.

The console port is menu-driven. It's not IOS-like, but I hear some sort of CLI is coming.

I've taken some screenshots of the interface.

The main status page..

Cisco1.jpg


The menu through the console port. Settings are 115200,8,N,1, but for some reason my existing RJ45 to DB9 console cable didn't work. The one from Cisco (bundled) did though.
Cisco2.jpg


LAG management/Status and balancing algorithm...
LAG1.jpg


Port authentication.
Auth.jpg


Hippie status. I guess you get warm and fuzzies from seeing how much you've helped to save the world.
Green.jpg


VLAN
Vlan.jpg


I've taken screenshots of the whole, fully expanded menu and stitched them together. Should give a good indication of all the features.
FullMenu.jpg



Thanks!!
Riley
 
Wow, that actually looks really good. I didn't think Cisco was making an SMB product that didn't completely suck ass. Kudos.
 
AMD_Gamer said:
Where is the port mirroring options?

I just started a thread http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1036830503&posted=1#post1036830503 looking for a nice Gigabit switch for my home/lab. I was looking at the HP Procurve until somebody pointed me to this thread.

Anymore input on this switch, it seems to be more feature rich than the HP switches such as having Vlan routing,
Click to expand...

I know it does it. The setup is on another screen with other stuff. Unfortunately, I just moved and don't have mine setup right now. Check out the admin guide from cisco.com. it should show it.

Riley
 
Look in the screenshot of the menu that he stiched together, under Diagnostics.
 
I'm curious what you can do with the QoS options. I have an HDHomeRun and I'd like to prioritize traffic from it. Unfortunately, it isn't the only device hanging off the ethernet link to the room where it is. Can this thing apply QoS/CoS/DSCP values based on IP addresses on ingress traffic?
 
Skud said:
It's super loud.. I have to unplug it to talk on the phone..


j/k.. It's fanless.
Click to expand...

ohh that is nice,

btw I am confused about some of the security options like TACACS and 802.1x.. are those just used to get to the web configuration or can they allow actual access to a port where a machine has to authenticate before using the switch?
 
AMD_Gamer said:
ohh that is nice,

btw I am confused about some of the security options like TACACS and 802.1x.. are those just used to get to the web configuration or can they allow actual access to a port where a machine has to authenticate before using the switch?
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can use those for authorizing access to ports or for dumping unauthenticated users onto a guest vlan, etc.
 
Skud said:
Yeah, you can use those for authorizing access to ports or for dumping unauthenticated users onto a guest vlan, etc.
Click to expand...

so how does that work on the software side on the client? how would you set this up?
 
I haven't used that yet, but I'm pretty sure you need to put the switch into layer 3 mode first..

Riley
 
AMD_Gamer said:
Where do you do that? I just checked all the settings?
Click to expand...

The online user manual is here: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/csbms/sf30x_sg30x/administration_guide/78-19308-01.pdf

From the user manual, pg. 168

The switch can be switched from Layer 2 mode to Layer 3 mode only by using the
console interface. When this is done, all configuration settings are returned to their
default values. For more information about the console interface, see the Console
Menu Interface chapter in the administration guide.
Click to expand...

From the user manual, pg. 184

Defining IPv4 Static Routing
When the switch is in Layer 3 mode, this page enables configuring and viewing
IPv4 static routes on the switch. When routing traffic, the next hop is decided
based on the longest prefix match (LPM algorithm). A destination IPv4 address
may match multiple routes in the IPv4 Static Route Table. The switch uses the
matched route with the highest subnet mask, that is, the longest prefix match.

To define an IP static route:
STEP 1 Click IP Configuration > IP Static Routes.
The IP Static Routing Page opens.
STEP 2 Click Add. The Add IP Static Route Page opens.
STEP 3 Enter the values for the following fields:
• Destination IP Prefix—Enter the destination IP address prefix.
• Mask—Select and enter information for one of the following:
- Network Mask—The IP route prefix for the destination IP.
- Prefix Length—The IP route prefix for the destination IP.
• Next Hop Router IP Address—Enter the next hop IP address or IP alias on
the route
NOTE You cannot configure a static route through a directly-connected IP
subnet where the switch gets its IP address from a DHCP server.
• Route Type—Select the route type.
- Reject—Rejects the route and stops routing to the destination network
via all gateways. This ensures that if a frame arrives with the destination
IP of this route, it is dropped.
- Remote—Indicates that the route is a remote path.
• Metric—Enter the administrative distance to the next hop. The range is 1–
255.
STEP 4 Click Apply. The IP Static route is added, and switch is updated.
Click to expand...
 
I had gift credit at Amazon, and they just happened to get the 20-port version in.

I'm going to give this thing a try. It looks like it'll work for what I need.
 
I haven't had a chance to play with the 300 (Aar Roof-Spartans).

But I got it in on Thursday. I'll play with it later today and post some pics.

Does anyone know if there is a comparable product to the HP Procurve 1800/Cisco 300 in the small business routing? I want to upgrade my Netgear wndr 3500.
 
I bought an SG300-10MP POE switch to see if this is something I wanted to use in future customer networks. This is a 10-port POE switch with full power on all ports. Even though it is granting this amount of POE power, it is fanless which is a major plus for my customers who are all Small Businesses. Initial setup was very straightforward by following the Quick Start Guide. The UI is nicely laid out. I was able to configure everything - Security ACLs, 802.1x, QoS, IPv6, Administration settings, Policing and Shaping, Multicast, etc, through the UI which is really nice. On other products in the market, you can do some but not all through the UI - rest done vial CLI. I even configured the layer 3 functions through the CLI after changing the switch over from layer 2 to layer 3 using the console menu. This product has lots of juice.
What I like the most is the big support for IPv6. While IPv4 will be around for many years, the move to IPv6 has to happen now that ICANN has run out of IPv4 addresses. This switch has complete support for IPv6 - security (ACL), Qos, dual stack, multicast, ISATAP. I look at this as a way to move my customers slowly over to IPv6.
I haven't tested everything yet, but I have to say this switch is hard to beat for the price.
 
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