Switch recommendation for home lab - Layer 3 ideally.

G

gabi_cavaller

n00b
Joined
Apr 10, 2012
Messages
42
Hi there,

This is my first time on here, wasn't sure if to put this query in the networking or under the virtualisation, please feel free to move.

I placed it under virtualisation, as I am starting to build my lab and thought it would be applicable here.

Current hardware.

2 X ML110 G6's with 16GB with 6 NICs each.
1 X NL36 with 16GB

I will be using the ML's as the host, ESXi will run on the internal USB.

I will be using the NL for shared storage, probably Nexenta

I'd like to use VLAN's, to replicate a live environment.

I've searched through the forum, and some people recommend the Cisco SG 300-20 [however a few complains] some recommend some of the netgear products, all these recommendations are relatively old.

Anyone have any suggestions? I would be most grateful.

If I have not found anything on the site, but it's recent and you know about it, please point me in the right direction :)

Many thanks in advanced,

Kind regards,

G.
 
I've used both Powerconnect 5224, 5324, 6224 and Juniper EX3200 at home.. Currently using the EX3200 and 5224 and can't complain about either.
 
NetJunkie said:
I use a SG300 and am very happy with it.
Click to expand...

Excellent, which version are you using, with what Firmware?

There are some posts, where people are stating that it doesn't actually carry out L3 properly, they are stating it doesn't route between the Vlans, which I find hard to understand, I am trying to find the link. Could be configuration issues.
 
Stanza33 said:
Please Explain the

1 X NL36 with 16GB

Is that the HP Microserver? N36L ??

if so is it correct 16gig ram ??

Thanks
Click to expand...

My apologies, it's running 8GB, I copied and pasted the line above, changed name but forgot to change the RAM. I am going to try 8GB sticks though and see if it works.
 
doofoo said:
I've used both Powerconnect 5224, 5324, 6224 and Juniper EX3200 at home.. Currently using the EX3200 and 5224 and can't complain about either.
Click to expand...

I've never tried the juniper switches, but that is quite a lot of money for a home lab.

I'll have a look at the 5224.

I have a GSM7324 available, could get another but they are rather expensive.

Sadly, I have a couple of FSM7352S's available, but they are only 10/100.

Thanks very much,

G
 
Layer 3 is the ideal solution.

I could always do the routing through the firewall, but I am not actually too sure how much overhead that would cause to the performance of it. I could use a TZ-210 for it.

Those HP's are fanless I think, that's great. The ML's are actually very quiet when running, I was surprised.
 
gabi_cavaller said:
Layer 3 is the ideal solution.

I could always do the routing through the firewall, but I am not actually too sure how much overhead that would cause to the performance of it. I could use a TZ-210 for it.

Those HP's are fanless I think, that's great. The ML's are actually very quiet when running, I was surprised.
Click to expand...

you want to rout through a Tz-210 ? your shitting me right ? any vlans through a tz-210 cause HUGE cpu PEG on it, ask me why mine is still in my closet in the manufactures box doing NOTHING right now :)

Because it cant handle the through put over vlans, transferring from vlan to vlan, the cpu spikes to 100% and if your transferring a large enough file, it will freeze and or reboot.

In the long run, i really wish i bought a layer 3 cisco switch, but it was out of my budget.

if your not transferring files across vlans and or using heavy traffic, you might be ok.
 
dashpuppy said:
you want to rout through a Tz-210 ? your shitting me right ? any vlans through a tz-210 cause HUGE cpu PEG on it, ask me why mine is still in my closet in the manufactures box doing NOTHING right now :)

Because it cant handle the through put over vlans, transferring from vlan to vlan, the cpu spikes to 100% and if your transferring a large enough file, it will freeze and or reboot.

In the long run, i really wish i bought a layer 3 cisco switch, but it was out of my budget.

if your not transferring files across vlans and or using heavy traffic, you might be ok.
Click to expand...

It was just a thought, but having had your reply, that is out the window now :)

Good little firewalls (somewhat expensive for what they are)

Which Cisco switch and why?

Excellent stuff.

Thanks,

G.
 
gabi_cavaller said:
It was just a thought, but having had your reply, that is out the window now :)

Good little firewalls (somewhat expensive for what they are)

Which Cisco switch and why?

Excellent stuff.

Thanks,

G.
Click to expand...

there ok firewalls, nothing special etc etc, they suck at finding spyware and viruses.

Id say they are decent at a firewall & rule making etc butt thats about it, and they are EXPENSIVE for what they are, like 500$ a year for rull subscription WTF..


anyways stay clear of the tz210 with vlans, its crap.
 
shiznit said:
cisco sg-300
Click to expand...

i have the sg-200 LOVE IT !

DSCN0319.JPG
 
I have an HP1910-16G and it seems to work well. Can't speak much for the layer3 stuff though as I don't use it.
 
Just picked up a Dell 5324 (Layer 2 Gigabit) from fleabay this weekend for $100 shipped. Depending what your budget is, you may want to look at starting small and working up from there.
 
gabi_cavaller said:
But it is a layer3 though, i.e routing between vlans? That looks like a good one too. Noisy?
Click to expand...

SG200 is layer 2.
SG300 is layer 3.

I have both in 10 and 26 port forms, really like them was using netgear stuff before but most of it has gone now after being replaced by them. Thinking about picking up a 1810 to play with as I seem to have aquired a switch fetish.

My only critism lands with the SG200 and its lack of SNMP so I can't monitor anything, SG300 has it all though.

Any both are fanless so noise is not an issue.

On the lookout for a small rack now, shame we can't get the tripplite ones in the UK :(. Really nice stuff by the looks of it.
 
+1 for 1810-24G

I know its not Layer 3, but I've been very happy with it in my home lab.

I have a couple virtual pfsense boxes that do minimal vlan routing.
 
Don't touch SG200, SG300 or nothing.

Little feature like "Guest Network" for vlan missing on SG200 (only availaible on SG300) make quite a difference.
 
bmh.01 said:
SG200 is layer 2.
SG300 is layer 3.

I have both in 10 and 26 port forms, really like them was using netgear stuff before but most of it has gone now after being replaced by them. Thinking about picking up a 1810 to play with as I seem to have aquired a switch fetish.

My only critism lands with the SG200 and its lack of SNMP so I can't monitor anything, SG300 has it all though.

Any both are fanless so noise is not an issue.

On the lookout for a small rack now, shame we can't get the tripplite ones in the UK :(. Really nice stuff by the looks of it.
Click to expand...

I love my sg200, also love my Triplite rack :) little kid can't get into my server gear :)
 
dashpuppy said:
I love my sg200, also love my Triplite rack :) little kid can't get into my server gear :)
Click to expand...

I'll need a good rack too, to keep my GF and others out of it. Need to create a nice lab environment.

Got myself a Netgear Layer3 switch to play with for the time being, will be purchasing an SG300 soon.

Thanks for everyone on here and their help, I am very glad I came across this forum, cannot believe it's been hidden for so long.
 
gabi_cavaller said:
I'll need a good rack too, to keep my GF and others out of it. Need to create a nice lab environment.

Got myself a Netgear Layer3 switch to play with for the time being, will be purchasing an SG300 soon.

Thanks for everyone on here and their help, I am very glad I came across this forum, cannot believe it's been hidden for so long.
Click to expand...

glad we were able to help you :)
 
Ok. was using a GSM7324 L3 and the noise was too much.

I've purchased an SG300-28, that should be ok, will get another one for HA when I have more time.

Wrench00 - why is it "Sg300 is a pretty good little switch. I still prefer a HP V1910G" ? I am sure it will be able to copy with 3 hosts and 40 vm's in total?

The HP's are nice, I would have considered it if it was fanless I think. In regards to performance, have you been able to compare both?
 
Last edited:
SG300 is pretty easy to figure out. Not bad tech support. Short warranty. No stacking.

HP V1910G is very easy to figure out. Descent tech support. Excellent lifetime warranty, next business day delivery for almost same price as the linksys. Stacking capabilities.
This is a Layer 2 switch with Static routing Layer 3 capabilities same as the sg300. If I have a choice I always choose the HP (really a 3com)
 
I have found that Dell Powerconnect are very good value for the money when the budget is tight. I'm currently running my lab on 3x Powerconnect 5324's and 1x Powerconnect 6024 (quite a beast of a switch -- literally hotswappable redundant PSU's onboard, weighs nearly as much as a 1U server). I was able to obtain every Powerconnect 5324 on ebay for ~$95-115 USD and the 6024 for ~$200 (though it took some hunting and sniping). I also have a SG300-10 I have not implemented yet. The feature set on the SG-300 is very nice, but they are not exactly cheap by my very finance limited budget. I was able to get the SG300-10 about a year ago when they had a $150 MIR (rebate relative to the price of the switch, I believe the SG300-20 was ~$200 MIR). I would definitely recommend the SG300 for budget L3 needs, and the Powerconnect 5324 for L2. The Powerconnect 6024 is a very nice switch, but unlike the 5324, there are no recent firmware updates available (the 5324 was updated in 2010 I believe).

IMG_20120508_191909.jpg
 
Hmmm looks like there is 2 x SG300-20's ??

one is 10/100 and the other Gigabit...

Think I just got shipped the wrong one:(

.
 
No, there is the SF300 and SG300. Either you ordered the wrong one or you've been sent the wrong one.
 
I use HP Procurve 2824 and 3448 and am very happy with them. Only issue is flow control and jumbo frame don't work together but I don't use JF anyway.
 
Hi,

Switch delivered, been away so only been able to test today.

Well packaged, presentation is good.

Installed console cable, used putty logged in with user name and password, all ok but.....

It's constantly rebooting, i.e seems to be stuck in a loop.

Even if you reboot the device, don't type in the user name or password, it starts saying

**************************************************
***************** SYSTEM RESET *****************
**************************************************
Boot1 Checksum Test...............................PASS

Boot2 Checksum Test...............................PASS

Flash Image Validation Test.......................PASS



# #


####### ### ####### ####### #####
######### ### ### ## ######### #########
### ### #### ### ### ###
### ### ### ### ### ###
### ### #### ### ### ###
######### ### ## ### ######### #########
####### ### ####### ####### #####



Networking device with Marvell ARM CPU core. 128 MByte SDRAM.
I-Cache 16 KB. D-Cache 16 KB. L2 Cache 256 KB. Cache Enabled.


MAC Address : 68:bc:0c:7d:4f:51.

Autoboot in 2 seconds - press RETURN or Esc. to abort and enter prom.
Preparing to decompress...
100%
Decompressing SW from image-1
9%
Click to expand...

Follows on with some more and then reboots again.

:)

Not sure if this is SP but hey, will speak to reseller.

Thanks,

G.

(looking forward to getting it working.
 
I had a Netgear with a similar issue. I cleared the old FW out and reflashed it. Works great after that.
 
Changed FW, no luck.

Messed around for a bit, gave up.

Replacement sent, good as gold, just need to test properly.

Thanks,

G.
 
You are welcome. Glad to hear the new one seems to be working well for you.
 
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