VLAN Switch for home

[SHimmer45]

looking for a switch to do some practical learning on VLAN's but looking for one which isnt massive / sound like a plane is coming into land.

currently got a 3com switch which is sooooo loud ideally with a couple of gig ports for transferring / backing up large amounts of data to a nas when needed.

anyone got an personal recommendations

[Michael]

Maybe some of the Cisco for Small Business may offer some VLANing features. I suppose if you keep it to a simple 10/100 switch rather than gigabit, it should be fanless. Depends how vital the throughput is really.

[Mr_Jiminy]

You can pick up a 2960 pretty cheap on ebay

[dhicks]

looking for a switch to do some practical learning on VLAN's but looking for one which isnt massive / sound like a plane is coming into land.

 

Could you use a virtual software switch instead? Especially if your test machines are VMs as well, it could work quite well.

[mowgli82]

What about Cisco Packet Tracer? you can build virtual networks

[Mr_Jiminy]

What about Cisco Packet Tracer? you can build virtual networks

 

Plus it's quiet

[SHimmer45]

Could you use a virtual software switch instead? Especially if your test machines are VMs as well, it could work quite well.

 

What about Cisco Packet Tracer? you can build virtual networks

 

Plus it's quiet

 

is packet tracer still free? is it the only option for virtual lan design software

[SHimmer45]

You can pick up a 2960 pretty cheap on ebay

 

looks like that would have the same issue as my 3com switch atm

[Davit2005]

Cisco SG300 10 port, I have a PoE+ version, not quite a Cisco IOS but does Layer 3. also low power consumption.

[computer_expert]

HP's 8 port 1810 is good (and the 8 port version can be powered by POE too)

[Chris_]

HP's 8 port 1810 is good (and the 8 port version can be powered by POE too)

 

I was thinking about the 8 or 24 port HP 1800/1810 switches as they're fanless, although they don't have a command line so might not be as useful when learning about VLANs. A HP 2520/2530 8G have command lines and are fanless.

[dhicks]

Could you use a virtual software switch instead?

 

You could use Open vSwitch:

 

Open vSwitch

 

Can be used as a virtual switch (it's the default for XenServer), or you can build your own physical switch (i.e. motherboard with a bunch of additional network ports) to run it on.

[pete]

I have an 1810-24G that's been running non-stop since March 2013 in full display of the afternoon sun (roof window) in the home office and it's inaudible.

 

I do miss the lack of a CLI, but that's because I like a CLI rather than because I can't do something with it.

 

Have you poked Dave at ICTDirect to see what he's sitting on?

[plexer]

I have a couple of these TP-Link TL-SG105E 5-Port Gigabit Easy Smart Network Switch - Ebuyer for my home network.

 

Ben

[lostsoul]

Can't beat a Mikrotik routerboard for a cheap layer 3 device with loads of features. Combine with a basic L2 managed switch like the one above and you will have a nice set up.

[SHimmer45]

thanks for the responses, the TPlink stuff looks reasonable as a start point.

have been looking at some of the smaller HP stuff for vlanning to get used to the interface's they use as HP kit is common (and more affordable than cisco)

but then vlan principles are all the same regardless of vendor.

[Gaz]

vlan principles are all the same regardless of vendor.

 

Their terminology certainly isnt.

 

I use a Cisco SG300-10 PoE at home for our computers and devices covers most vlanning needs and has static layer3. Yes its expensive but its reliable and more in line with what you can expect to encounter on the job.

[SHimmer45]

Their terminology certainly isnt.

 

indeed

[Davit2005]

Their terminology certainly isnt.

 

I use a Cisco SG300-10 PoE at home for our computers and devices covers most vlanning needs and has static layer3. Yes its expensive but its reliable and more in line with what you can expect to encounter on the job.

 

I have one of these 2 and yes they are expensive about £300 for mine (PoE+) but you can run it 24/7 due to it using approx. 20 watts with a couple of PoE devices plugged in.