Comparison between PowerConnect Switch series'?

[Tired Tech]

How about the newer Dell 2816? Yes, its fanless. See tech spec page.

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/powerconnect-2816/pd

Transporting this thread to August 2014, I'm replacing some dead 2708 and 2716 switches. Is there a good article anywhere that describes the differences between the different series Dell switches (27XX, 28XX, higher numbered models, etc.)?

 

[Cloud200]

http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/networking/products/switches/selector/index.aspx#tab=TAB4

Just select Fanless, gigabit and the switch size.

 

[Tired Tech]

http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/networking/products/switches/selector/index.aspx#tab=TAB4

Just select Fanless, gigabit and the switch size.

Well, no, that doesn't address my question at all.

 

[5mall5nail5]

Well, no, that doesn't address my question at all.

No, it doesn't.

So the biggest thing I've found is this:

2700/2800 series are nearly identical. 2824 supports more STP stuff I believe, and support 9000 jumbo frames (not not 9014, etc.). If you do a ping -f on the 2724 with jumbo frames enabled it will go to 5000, 5500, 6000, but not 9000 - they get fragmented at that point. Granted that is only useful for iSCSI traffic, and even then it's not 100% necessary, but I like to have 9014+ jumbo frames. I've had a 2724 last me now for years. I was about to buy another 2824 but then started looking at higher models below.

I don't know your needs exactly but I'd recommend a 2824 off ebay for ~$100-$120 if you don't need the more feature-rich 3xxx 5xxx

The thing to know is that the 27xx/28xx series are really just small office switches with minimal management. No LACP. No SNMP (from what I can tell on the 2824, I have a 2724 and it has no SNMP).

The 3xxx series is where real managed switches start to come in with ssh/console/etc. This is where I prefer to start when needing more features. But, the caveat is that the 3xxx is all 100MBps with and without PoE. These are really just cost-effective fully managed switches. 3324, 3424, 3524, etc. I would not recommend going older than a 34xx.

The 5xxx is where you get into the enterprise class switches with gigabit. They offer STP, SNMP, etc. The 54xx are really nice. The 55xx are nice except they use HDMI stacking cables - cheaper than SFP but also weirder and they don't lock in obviously.

I just bought two 54xx off of ebay - a 5424 and a 5448, $71 for the 24 and $103 for the 48 port, both full gigabit, managed, snmp, and iSCSI optimized. That'd be my suggestion but I don't know what you need in full.

 

[Tired Tech]

No, it doesn't...

... That'd be my suggestion but I don't know what you need in full.

Thanks for that thoughtful response! I will look into all this, and try to bring myself up to speed on the switch features that I've been too lazy to delve into. Meanwhile, I've removed the dead power supply, and am going to try powering it from a bench power supply. If it works, I may just buy some workable PSU and do a Frankenstein repair on the switch, to last me until I replace it. I wish I could have you over here for coffee and a chat. I'm getting to old for this...

 

[LoneWolf]

While I haven't played with the lower-end Dell gig switches (I've generally worked with the 3/5/7 series and a little of the newer N line), I believe the 27xx/28xx are "web-managed" switches. They start unmanaged out-of-box, and you have to turn management on if you want to use them in managed mode. I don't know about the 28xx, but recall that the 27xx has little if any command-line options, it is GUI only (I would guess that the 28xx continues this tradition, but may be improved). First-time configuration may be a little painful to get into managed mode, at least if you buy used (you'll definitely get a better deal though).

I'd probably ask you what features you need and what your environment is before saying a 28xx switch is worth it. Netgear and Cisco Small Business have some competing products that may be worth looking at, depending on the price and what you want to accomplish. Dell's N-series line (which has now replaced the 55xx/7xxx lines) is a lot more powerful, having a full command-line set, and throughput is better. If you can afford them, the N2000 line beats the PowerConnect 28xx line any day, but in a small business environment, you may not use the enterprise features. Also note the Dell 3500 line --it's 10/100 for most ports, usually with two gig uplinks. They've been around forever, but are very reliable, and PoE versions are available. Also fully manageable via command-line.

P.S. Here's Dell's Spec sheets for the 2700 and 2800 line. And finally, if you're doing this on the cheap, just buy used on Ebay, rather than doing a FrankenPSU and risking a fire.

2700:
http://www.dell.com/downloads/ap/products/pconnect/en/2700_spec_sheet.pdf

2800:
http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/.../dell-powerconnect-2800-series-spec_sheet.pdf