Network Switches and Becta's Instituation Infrastructure

[wesleyw]

I know we do not need to go down the 1gb per port route but looking through this document all switches should be managed and be CoS or even QoS compliant? Would smart switches do for cabinets feeding rooms? We currently use HP Procurve 4108 for the core is this sufficent? Or will it need upgrading to? I'm looking at the upgrade for next April anyway but I'd like to have in place all the costs beforehand.

 

Wes

[Ric_]

The Becta guidelines are jsut that... guidelines. What they are saying is that it would be nice to have gigabit per port but they understand that it is not always possible (or indeed necessary).

 

If you install gigabit switches, how are you going to feed them? Are the desktop NICs gigabit? Do you have CAT6 cabling? All these questions should be answered.

 

If you feed a gigabit switch with a single gigabit link, what is the point of having the 40-odd gigabit ports? If you are using a 4108 at the core of your network you probably aren't going to get the throughput to fully utilise all these gigabit links anyway. If you check the web UI you can check with the little graphs how much bandwidth is currently being used. Upgrading may be a waste of money at the moment.

[Chafftech]

We have a 4108gl for our core switching, this is fully managed and layer 3 so it supports QoS and VLAN's etc etc. As far as i am concerned it meets all requirements for next 3 years. I would not worry too much over this BECTA document, it is good look at and use when buying new stock so that over the coming months / years you eventually move into a fully BECTA compliant network.

 

As for smart switches it is worth checking their features meet your requirements a some are fully layer3 some are not. Personally I would use Procurve switches such as 2600 series for the sattelite data cabinets as you know these will be fully compliant with the 4108gl. But do your research as only you know whats best for your schools site and budget.

[DMcCoy]

The 4108 has some layer 3 feaures, but isn't described as a layer 3 switch in HPs documentaion. If you only need basic ip routing for vlans it should be fine. I changed to the 5308 recently as the 4108 only supports 6 trunks.

[Face-Man]

you could always download the procurve management software trial and see what kind of useage you are putting on your switches. http://www.hp.com/rnd/software/j8991-b0210.htm