10Gb Ethernet switches, what's out there/what's "good"?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › 10Gb Ethernet switches, what's out there/what's "good"?

andgor

43 posts

Geek

#141078 28-Feb-2014 17:30

Hi

We have a couple of VMware ESX boxes with storage provided by an iSCSI SAN via gigabit ethernet connections. At times the gigabit ethernet for the iSCSI is a bit of a bottle neck so we are kind of looking at 10Gb ethernet for that, at least one NAS and perhaps some links to access switches in the future. What is out there (in New Zealand)?

Something like http://www.alliedtelesis.com/switches/sbx8112 looks really cool (although I've got a support ticket open with Allied Telesis about a firmware upgrade that results in a (much lesser) switch that no longer boots that has been open with no reply for nearly 2 weeks now). I assume other vendors have similar products?

What options are available with stackable switches instead of chassis based systems? I see Extreme Networks has some products in this area, are they available in NZ/? Any good?

What are the benefits of stackable vs chassis or vice versa?

I see lots of $$$$$, but you can never have too much bandwidth :-).

charsleysa

597 posts

Ultimate Geek

#996586 28-Feb-2014 18:38

You should look into trunking, it's probably a lot cheaper than a 10GbE upgrade.

Basically you're using multiple gigabit ports at each end and joining them together so that they appear to be a single port.

Also you want to look at the switching capacity of your switches as that can be a bottleneck.

Regards
Stefan Andres Charsley

Zeon

3916 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#996609 28-Feb-2014 19:28

charsleysa: You should look into trunking, it's probably a lot cheaper than a 10GbE upgrade.

Basically you're using multiple gigabit ports at each end and joining them together so that they appear to be a single port.

Also you want to look at the switching capacity of your switches as that can be a bottleneck.

Trunking will not improve iSCSI throughput, its not what its designed. You can use iSCSI multipathing to sue multiple 1gbps interfaces to cumulatively increase bandwidth. On our ESXi server we have 4x 1gbps for iSCSI which gives up to 500MBps read/write. IOPS is a way bigger bottleneck though

Speedtest 2019-10-14

Inphinity

2780 posts

Uber Geek

#996621 28-Feb-2014 19:43

Provided all devices support LACP, you can aggregate links to increase available bandwidth. Otherwise, for the cost of 10GbE gear you may want to look at fibre-channel instead.

charsleysa

597 posts

Ultimate Geek

#996626 28-Feb-2014 19:47

Zeon:
charsleysa: You should look into trunking, it's probably a lot cheaper than a 10GbE upgrade.

Basically you're using multiple gigabit ports at each end and joining them together so that they appear to be a single port.

Also you want to look at the switching capacity of your switches as that can be a bottleneck.

Trunking will not improve iSCSI throughput, its not what its designed. You can use iSCSI multipathing to sue multiple 1gbps interfaces to cumulatively increase bandwidth. On our ESXi server we have 4x 1gbps for iSCSI which gives up to 500MBps read/write. IOPS is a way bigger bottleneck though

You're right, that is a better solution.
Though an even better solution for even better support is to use both methods.
I used this article for information:
http://etherealmind.com/iscsi-network-design-part-5-iscsi-multipathing-hba-ha-high-availability-redundancy/

Regards
Stefan Andres Charsley

RalphFromSnap

776 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Snap Internet

#996638 28-Feb-2014 20:10

andgor: Hi

We have a couple of VMware ESX boxes with storage provided by an iSCSI SAN via gigabit ethernet connections. At times the gigabit ethernet for the iSCSI is a bit of a bottle neck so we are kind of looking at 10Gb ethernet for that, at least one NAS and perhaps some links to access switches in the future. What is out there (in New Zealand)?

Something like http://www.alliedtelesis.com/switches/sbx8112 looks really cool (although I've got a support ticket open with Allied Telesis about a firmware upgrade that results in a (much lesser) switch that no longer boots that has been open with no reply for nearly 2 weeks now). I assume other vendors have similar products?

What options are available with stackable switches instead of chassis based systems? I see Extreme Networks has some products in this area, are they available in NZ/? Any good?

What are the benefits of stackable vs chassis or vice versa?

I see lots of $$$$$, but you can never have too much bandwidth :-).

Hi Andgor,

A Juniper EX4450 Willdo what you need, The Business Side of Snap sells and supports these, provides 24/7/365 support and spares. If your interested in a price you can send a message from business.snap.net.nz

Thanks
TheRalph

Snap

0800 BROADBAND (276 232)
www.snap.net.nz

@SnapInternet on Twitter
Snap Internet on Facebook

Our Social Media Team:
^RO Ricky - Technical Lead
^AT Ashleigh - Retail Marketing Coordinator

webwat

2036 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#999199 4-Mar-2014 23:48

Inphinity: Provided all devices support LACP, you can aggregate links to increase available bandwidth. Otherwise, for the cost of 10GbE gear you may want to look at fibre-channel instead.

Thats what they meant by trunking, although port aggregation is the more accurate term I think.

Time to find a new industry!