Finding the right managed switch for NAS, 2 dual routers?

[kittmaster]

I am looking for some guidance on finding a proper managed switch for my setup that has to change quickly in the next few days. I had an RT-AX88U which was set for Canada, I bought another 88U for 160MHz operation....and they are connected via single 1 Ethernet cable. The 88U connects to my NAS (DS918+) link aggregated for 2Gbps. Asus replaced the CA unit with a GT-AXE11000 (yes, you hear that right) and the downside is that it only has 4 Ethernet ports instead of 8 and I need at least 6. I intended to keep the "new' USA 88U to work in concert with my 11000. The 11000 supports 802.3ad just like the 88U but that puts me at 2 ports left.

So I was "thinking" of finding a switch....my thought would be to aggregate an 8 port switch from the 11000 to the 8 port...use 2 ports to feed the NAS, the 6 remaining to act as 1Gbps ports like the old 88U.......this might be option 1

I know there is a 2.5Gbps multiport but I need 2 Ethernet cables to make the NAS use 2Gbps and I don't see any type of adapters to split the Multi speed port (and honestly, first unit I've owned that has one)....option 2?

So I think a managed switch is the right way to go here....but I wasn't expecting some of the shell shock of $500 switches I've seen thus far.

Is there enough info here to provide guidance of what I can do to solve this issue to maintain a 2Gbps from the 11000 to the NAS without burning up 1/2 the ports on the 11000?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[kydsid]

How many users are accessing you NAS concurrently because that's really where 802.3ad might help. Your single access connection is still 1gpbs limited it's not 2gpbs. As in if this for home use it's all but pointless.

What country are you buying in because that dictates market. In the US plenty of used options for switches. And if speed is the goal go used and setup a 10gpbs backbone along with a nic upgrade on the nas.

 

[SamirD]

What other devices do you have connecting to the old switch and how much bandwidth would you use there? Would you have multiple devices saturating gigabit at the same time? If so, you're going to need to invest in a new switch topology to keep what you had bandwidth-wise.

Otherwise, if nothing used more than 1Gb at the same time, you can get a dumb 2.5Gb switch, hang it off one of the 2.5Gb ports and all those devices should be more than happy.

 

[kittmaster]

There can be 3 to 4 people using it streaming 1080p and 4k videos to various devices including me as a 5th dumping large video files during that timeframe. I am in the USA, Rhode Island specifically.

Other devices include soundbars, 4K TV, bunch of Nest video cameras, Blink cameras, at least 5 Amazon firesticks doing random streaming....

 

[toast0]

If all you're looking for is link aggregation, have a look at the TP-Link easy smart switches. 16 port is 80ish(but shop around), they come in less ports too. Does link aggregation and light vlans stuff. No telnet or serial interface, security is iffy (management interface operates on all vlans, and on all ports, and there's been credible reports that you can bypass the password authentication and change the settings; this could be a legitimate deal breaker for some, but it's fine for a low security network)

 

[kydsid]

There can be 3 to 4 people using it streaming 1080p and 4k videos to various devices including me as a 5th dumping large video files during that timeframe. I am in the USA, Rhode Island specifically.

Other devices include soundbars, 4K TV, bunch of Nest video cameras, Blink cameras, at least 5 Amazon firesticks doing random streaming....

So, the average american home lan then, nothing extraordinary. What specifically is being served from the NAS? Is it a plex media server etc. a network diagram or a better network description would help improve the recommendations.

 

[kittmaster]

So, the average american home lan then, nothing extraordinary. What specifically is being served from the NAS? Is it a plex media server etc. a network diagram or a better network description would help improve the recommendations.

Yes, correct home LAN. From the NAS can be up to 3 1080p streams at any given time across multiple Amazon devices. I frequently upload large video files while all that goes on. I don't run Plex, but I do run Serviio (Plex alternative) which is a media server. I will fire up Visio and chuck something together to show the existing architecture.

 

[SamirD]

Yes, correct home LAN. From the NAS can be up to 3 1080p streams at any given time across multiple Amazon devices. I frequently upload large video files while all that goes on. I don't run Plex, but I do run Serviio (Plex alternative) which is a media server. I will fire up Visio and chuck something together to show the existing architecture.

How impatient are you with the uploads? The downloads will be fine even without link aggr.