Cisco SG300 series, any reason why not?

[catch21]

I'm replacing the aging ethernet switches at our school. My plan is to use a 28 port as the core, a 28 port to aggregate non-wifi traffic and 2 x 10 port PoE to host and aggregate traffic from the wireless access points.

 

Does anybody have any show-stopping reasons why not? They seem competitively priced to me.

[Destinova]

They are a decent SMB managed switch. That being said you are limited to configuration via the web interface as these do not run the full Cisco IOS. If you don't require some advanced layer 2 features, these would be fine for general access closet switches.

[Gaz]

They are a decent SMB managed switch. That being said you are limited to configuration via the web interface as these do not run the full Cisco IOS. If you don't require some advanced layer 2 features, these would be fine for general access closet switches.

 

You can also config the switch via SSH, Telnet and serial connection. If you want to enable Layer3 you will need to use Telnet to enable it.

[Miscbrah]

You could also call it Docker wtf.

[catch21]

I flippin' hope they're all right I've had five arrive on site today

[catch21]

Ah, the joys of CLI and quick-start guides written by people who know how to do things.

 

e.g. "use the CLI to set your IP address"

 

I used maximop and george 3 in the mid 70's which were less opaque than CLI and must be the longest persisting joke in history.

 

Anyway the challenge is to get a web browser session going on it. (Them, everything is x 5)

 

I can't see the default IP address as its not my network id and putting the switch on the network gives it a dynamic IP address from a large pool. What am I supposed to do, guess?

 

OK so I can get onto the 2008 server and see what's happening but what if you can't? As the quick start guide says, use the console interface, but then doesn't proceed to tell you how.

 

What I ended up doing was nmapping the n/w once it had received a dynamic IP address and looked for the base MAC address. For one of the switches that didn't work for some reason and I had to use my RPi to talk to it initially on its default address.

 

Anyway we're getting there, thank goodness for a small amount of networking knowledge and equipment and the web-based configuration. Personally I think that CLI is something left well behind.

[Gaz]

Were your switches second hand? Ours came with a manual clearly stating that the switch was factory configured with the IP address 192.168.1.254 so all I had to do was connect the switch to a PC on that range and login and change it.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/csbms/sf30x_sg30x/administration_guide/78-19308-01.pdf

Cisco Small Business 300 Series Managed Switches Command References - Cisco Systems

[catch21]

Yes, they were new and thanks for the thoughts. I used my RPi in the end to do exactly as you say because its, and you're not supposed to use the "T" word in schools, slightly less thick than a PC which is more likely to give up without trying for an address than succeeding.

 

My rant was more directed towards the (IMHO) deeply esoteric CLI or more specifically towards the quick start guide designer who didn't think or couldn't be bothered to include the five or so lines of commands needed to set a static IP address, save and exit.