HP equilivent

DevilWAH

Hi,

what would be the equilivent to a Cisco 3750X, 48port PW switch?

HP seems worse than Cisco with the number of models they make..

any other vendors and models also considered. Just trying to pick a switch and see how the various vendors compare.

astorrs

HP 3600EI and 3800 series seem (mostly) comparable to an IP Services 3750-X.

HP 3600 EI Switch Series

HP 3800 Switch Series

DevilWAH

EI vs non EI ? not clear on the website, what are the enhancements, mainly around the routing L3 stuff or more general across the switch.

I should add that this stack of switches I will be getting is going to be judged in about 3 months as to if we stay with HP access layer or move to another vendor.

wes allen

I will put a plug in for Enterasys - they have some pretty cool features and their support is really good.

High Power Ethernet Switch | Wireless Network Switch

MAC_Addy

What specifics are you looking for in a switch?

DevilWAH

MAC_Addy wrote: »

What specifics are you looking for in a switch?

good robust access switch, that supports 1Gb to desk, POE+, 1GB uplinks, and might want some basic L3 stuff like routing. support 802.1x, Ideally support and auto assign devices to a voice vlan, stackable, etc, etc.

That's why I asked for some thing like the 3750, as I know this as a good around access device. If you know the 3750's I would be more leaning towards a IP base image than LAN.

it_consultant

Compared specifically to the Cisco you mentioned, this is the HP equivalent:

HP 3500 and 3500 yl Switch Series - HP Networking, HP 3500-48G-PoE+ yl Switch, J9311A, HP 3500-24G-PoE+ yl Switch, J9310A, HP 3500-48G-PoE yl Switch, J8693A, HP 3500-24G-PoE yl Switch, J8692A, HP 3500-48-PoE Switch, J9473A, HP 3500-24-PoE Switch, J94

It looks like that model supports 10GB on its combo ports but be aware that this is not a dual ASIC switch so if you take a fiber port you lose a copper port. I think the 3500 comes with "Premium" routing software, at least mine do. It has a really good forwarding rate and they are pretty solid on the reliability side.

On the Brocade side I would be looking at the Brocade 6610 in a 48 port copper GB with a 8 port fiber (1/10GB) slot. This is a dual ASIC switch you can buy with either full layer 3 code or regular layer 2 code.

Brocade ICX 6610 Switch

If that is too rich for you blood, the older FCX series comes in a similar configuration. When Brocade does its competitive comparisons it matches the 6610 to the Cisco 3750.

FCX Series

For an access layer the only reason why I would go Brocade over HP (other than price and support) is because Brocade has very flexible stacking options. For core layers or even aggregate layers I would go with a dual ASIC switch. I could PM you with more info on Brocade stacking; it is light years ahead of HP.

DevilWAH

Have to say I hate HP's practice of not using duel ASIC, this is a 44port switch not 48port! And they don't mention the fact clearly in the specs. Had a few times when a non network person has patched in a user, upped the port and brought down the uplink.

Do brocade stack via stacking cables or via standard network ports? I have to say I like CISCO stacking, its so easy, and again miles ahead of HP.

sratakhin

2910 is also good enough. It doesn't support advanced routing features and distributed trunking, but you probably won't need it in an edge switch. Also, look at 5406. This switch isn't much more expensive than 3800, but it's modular and provides a lot of flexibility.
I can also recommend Dell 6248. We have a couple of Dell 6224 stacked, and we grabbed them while they were on sale. Can't beat the features and price.

nerdydad

For access layer switches at small to medium sites, we use the 3500, solid switch, be prepared to rethink vlan tagging, it's not hard, just a paradigm shift.

it_consultant

Everything is a paradigm shift if you are used to doing vlan tagging on a Cisco! Seriously, there is no "switchport mode trunk" or "switchport mode access" although in the Brocade if you want to tag and untag a port you need to use the dual-mode [desired untagged vlan number] command which is no big deal. HP makes it easy; tag [port number] untag [port number] and be on your way.

You can stack a brocade with dedicated stacking cables, the two 6610s on my desk right now are stacked by 40GB QSFP cables. The lower end switches can stack in without these cables using standard 10GB cables. I think you can stack up to 12. In the CLI they show up as slot 2 and are notated as management ports, which makes it easy to configure.

Stack enable -- secure stack-setup -- all done.

I have an HP 3500 on my floor which is waiting for a firmware upgrade. It is really a solid switch but being single ASIC is legitimately annoying.

astorrs

From what I saw neither the 2900 or 3500 stack (and why I suggested the 3600 EI/3800). Stacking is the distinguishing thing about the 3750-X (vs. 3560-X). Can someone confirm?

it_consultant

The 3500yl stacks. I think the 3800 has a better forwarding rate though.

Operating Rules For Stacking - Hp 3500YL User Manual [Page 327]

Lets get a matrix together:

HP 3800: http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/products/switches/HP_3800_Switch_Series/index.aspx#Performance
Cisco3750:[url]Http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps5023/product_data_sheet0900aecd80371991.html[/url]
Brocade ICX 6610: http://www.brocade.com/products/all/switches/product-details/icx-6610-switch/specifications.page

The 3800 gets good marks for performance and it uses distributed trunking, which is HPs answer to the Brocade Hyper-Edge stack; loop free redundant stacks which eliminate the one switch LACP barrier. It gets dinged on the fact that it does not appear to have dedicated stacking ports.

The Cisco 3750 gets good marks for having dedicated stacking ports but the performance seems subpar to the other two.

The Brocade performs well and the hyper-edge stack (formerly 'ironstack') is second generation compared to HP. I already know a downside to the 6610...it is bloody expensive.

sratakhin

3500yl also supports distributed trunking.

P.S. Pretty much any HP switch can do "stacking", but it's different from Cisco switches. In low-end HPs, stacking simply means the ability to manage multiple switches as one. That's it. There is no redundancy built in.

astorrs

To me the only thing that qualifies as "stacking" is managing all switches as one and being able to do MEC/MLAG.

P.P.S. I remember the old ProCurve 1600M "stacks" - not much more than sharing an IP.

sratakhin

Yeah, I also was surprised when I found it. That's why we decided to buy Dell 62xx for our SAN and VM switches. They cost us about 1,300 each and are almost equivalent to Cisco 3750 and 3750x.

it_consultant

The forwarding/switching rate on the 3500 was not near the Brocade or Cisco, which is why I went a model up in their line. The 3500 is more like a ICX 6450 or a Catalyst 2960.