Network expansion core upgrade advice sought

[ChrisH]

So I am in a situation I didnt expect to be in. They are bunging in ICT suites in places I never imagined. I only expected one extra suite but now were having them all over :?

 

Our current setup is one core cabinet and one at either side of the site serving its local block.

 

In one cabinet we have 2 HP 2650s and in the other just the one. There are also some other switches branched off these which I was keeping inplace until the plans were finally sorted and I could rewire this room to one of the main cabinets, when the room was refitted.

Each of the 2650s is connected by Fiber to the core switch which is currently a 2826 with room for 4 fiber connections. According to my estimates I am going to end up with 7 fiber connections back to the core.

Now the good news is for me is I put enough spare fiber inplace to handle all of this. The bad news is it looks like I am going to need a new core switch to handle all the extra capacity.

So my choices are:

1: Get Another 2826 and get a nice trunk going between them (not sure this is a good idea)

2: A solutions based on a 4200 chassis switch with 2 modules.

3: Something based on 53/5400 chassis (Not sure if this is overkill for us)

 

So I am looking for advice on my current predicament and how much I should look to be spending. Bearing in mind my current core switch rarely sees any over 25% on any port I have been monitoring. I have seen this as high as 40% when the backups are all running.

I may also be looking at HPs wireless management as well in the future as I hear these can slot right into the chassis.

 

TIA

 

Chris

[DMcCoy]

The 4200s really aren't that great, the 2800s, which I really like for classrooms, aren't good candidates for core switches either.

 

The 5300 is ok, the 5400 is better.

 

I'll end up with around 20 fibre uplinks to the main switch when I've got everything completed here.

 

The WiFi modules works with the 5400s

[Geoff]

What exactly is wrong with the 4200s?

[DMcCoy]

No PoE, no 10Gb, no Wireless management module, no ACLs. Lower number of Gbics allowed. I'm not saying they are bad, but they aren't classified as core or partial core like the 5400s are.

[localzuk]

I would go for the 5400, as it provides that future-proofing for 10GbE and has all the extra functionality you may (and probably will) need over the next few years.

 

Oh, and we have 10 fibre links going back to our core (5406zl). So it is about right for what you want to do I'd say.

[Geoff]

What is the GBic limit on the 4200?

[Ric_]

@Geoff: If you are talking about number, each mini-gbic module can hold upto 6 mini-gbics. The chasis take either 4 or 8 modules.

[DMcCoy]

HP lists it as 32 maximum even for the 8 module version.

[ChrisH]

Thanks for all the comments. I am currently compiling prices for both solutions. As a rough guide though for anyone interested the 5400 chassis costs twice as much as the 4200 and the modules seem to cost 2-3 times as much. Obviously there is the higher performance factor etc etc.

[Geoff]

HP lists it as 32 maximum even for the 8 module version.

 

Presumably that's limited because of the backplane though?

[DMcCoy]

HP lists it as 32 maximum even for the 8 module version.

 

Presumably that's limited because of the backplane though?

 

No, the gbic modules only have 4 ports each

[Geoff]

Ah yes I see. It's a physical limitation.

[Ric_]

@DMcCoy: Sorry... I was thinking about the 4100gl as opposed to the newer 4200vl when I mentioned the 6-port modules.

 

Does seem odd to more than double the backplane and reduse the maximum number of ports :?

[DMcCoy]

Same issue with the 5300s. There might be a 24 port gbic now, but there wasn't when I last looked. These are things that really make the 5400s more flexible as you can often just use one module instead.

 

So one gbic module for the 5400s = 6 for the 4200s. Perhaps the price for that one gbic isn't so steep!

[Ric_]

Something I've been thinking about... how is the backplane shared in the chassis switches

 

If you have a 4204 with its 38.4Gbps and a 4208 which has a 76.8Gbps backplane, both with just a single module, does that module get the full use of the backplane?

[localzuk]

Same issue with the 5300s. There might be a 24 port gbic now, but there wasn't when I last looked. These are things that really make the 5400s more flexible as you can often just use one module instead.

 

So one gbic module for the 5400s = 6 for the 4200s. Perhaps the price for that one gbic isn't so steep!

 

Exactly! Also, if you don't mind going slightly OT, when did you last look for the 24 gbic module?

[DMcCoy]

Around 2 years ago when I first got a 5308, its since been replaced due to plans I wasn't informed of, it will go back into service as an edge switch in a refurbished block though. Not that the 5400 existed then anyway, and the 8000s really are expensive

[ChrisH]

The 24 port GBIC module is available. But is seems its that or a mixed module. 24 is certainly overkill for us (unless I started trunking both uplinks from the 2650s but we dont have enough pairs for that!) but there doesnt seem to be a 12 port or anything like that.

[localzuk]

For fibre the choices are:

 

24 port SFP module (1Gbit)

20 port copper/4 port sfp (1Gbit)

4 port CX4 (10Gbit)

4 port X2 (10Gbit)

 

For the price, a 24 port SFP module, 5406zl chassis and redundant power supplies, it is quite good value for money. I make it around £1300, £1000 (one supplier is selling them for just over £700), and about £700 for 2 power supplies. So £3k? Plus the mini-gbic's at about £150 each. Very good value for money.