[AusNOG] 10GbE Switching Options (Results)

[Skeeve Stevens]

Pretty sure I recommended <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_98dHAgKCU> the
Dell S4K-ON or S6K-ON series... or the Z9100-ON - running Cumulus.

Mellanox is also awesome, their SN2100
<http://www.mellanox.com/page/products_dyn?product_family=215&mtag=sn2100>
is hot and supports Cumulus, but not fully yet... will be in a few months.

HP has the Altoline... looks nice, but HP is a pain to deal with at the
moment.  We chose Dell because they are easy and not one of the edge fringe
brands with no supply/logistics in .au

Basically, unless needed, I would avoid Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Brocade
hardware - unless you just want to waste money for the fun of it.

If you like Juniper, get a Dell ON series and run the new disaggregated
Junos.  Cisco will be an option on ONIE switches soon.

Also, don't misunderstand me.  I LOVE Cisco and Juniper... just not their
hardware these days at the prices they charge.



...Skeeve

*Skeeve Stevens - Founder & The Architect* - eintellego Networks Pty Ltd
Email: skeeve at eintellegonetworks.com ; Web: eintellegonetworks.com

Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 ; Skype: skeeve ; LinkedIn: /in/skeeve
<http://linkedin.com/in/skeeve> ; Expert360: Profile
<https://expert360.com/profile/d54a9> ; Keybase: https://keybase.io/skeeve

On Fri, Jul 1, 2016 at 3:28 PM, Alex Huntington <
Alex.Huntington at iriworldwide.com.au> wrote:

> Hi Everyone,
>
>
>
> Thanks heaps for your off-list replies!
>
>
>
> General consensus is 3rd party SFPs are the way to go, lots of people
> reporting using then in Cisco and Brocade switches without issue. Vendors
> SFPs at $1,500 as someone so eloquently put it you are simply paying for
> someone’s beach house.
>
>
>
> No feedback on the Dell Force10 platform, aside from that aren’t in the
> same league as the Brocade/Cisco which I tend to agree with however the
> spec sheets are very similar.
>
>
>
> *Recommended SFPs*
>
> -          AFL +1
>
> -          Curvature +1
>
> -          SmartOptics +2
>
> -          FS.com +3
>
> -          FlexOptics +3
>
> -          Fibrestore.com +1
>
>
>
>
>
> *Recommended Switches*
>
> -          Brocade VDX +3
>
> -          Cisco +2
>
> -          Huawei +1
>
> -          Melanox +1
>
> -          Dell +0
>
>
>
> *Thanks*
>
> -          Daniel
>
> -          Brett
>
> -          Chris
>
> -          Sam
>
> -          Nishal
>
> -          Meat Bag
>
> -          Robert
>
> -          Anthony
>
> -          Patrick
>
> -          Jorge
>
> -          James
>
>
>
> Sorry if I missed anyone, and again thanks AusNog. Have a great weekend!
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> Alex
>
>
>
> *From:* Alex Huntington
> *Sent:* Friday, 1 July 2016 10:12 AM
> *To:* 'ausnog at lists.ausnog.net' <ausnog at lists.ausnog.net>
> *Subject:* 10GbE Switching Options
>
>
>
> Hi Guys!
>
>
>
> Thought I’d throw out a few questions and a request for some feedback
> around some datacenter switching we are looking at. Currently each server
> has 6 10GbE NICs of which two are dedicated iSCSI that will run through
> this fabric.
>
>
>
> The current requirement is to replace our 1000BaseT switching with 10GbE
> but the cost of SFP+ modules is an issue and currently twinax has been
> rules out due do cable management issues (don’t ask :/).
>
> It would be nice to also standardise for our core also so routing is a
> “nice to have” but not a requirement.
>
>
>
> If we could get some decent or support 3rd party SFP+ modules for a good
> price it would make the Cisco/Brocade options much more attractive but
> never used the Startech or Netgear SFPs before & I’d like to avoid the
> vendor finger pointing games.
>
>
>
> We are looking at the following
>
>
>
> *Dell S4048-ON*
>
> Pros:
>
> -          Cheap $60 SFP+
>
> -          Cheapest switch cost by 20-30%
>
> -          All in one (no port or IP/routing licences required)
>
> Cons:
>
> -          Different CLI in FTOS, another thing to learn/manage
>
>
>
> *Brocade VDX 6490*
>
> Pros:
>
> -          ISCLI
>
> -          Vendor reputation
>
> Cons
>
> -          SFP+ price $300+
>
> -          Cost of additional port licences  e.g. 24-48 port on demand
>
>
>
> *Cisco Nexus 3000/9000*
>
> Pros:
>
> -          Community support & KB/documentation
>
> -          Vendor reputation
>
> -          Standardise vendor with all other network gear
>
> Cons:
>
> -          SFP+ $1500+
>
> -          IP Lite licence costs
>
>
>
> I’d love to hear your thoughts or experience, as I’m sure I’ve missed a
> few things!
>
>
>
> Cheeeeeers,
>
>
>
> Alex
>
> _______________________________________________
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> AusNOG at lists.ausnog.net
> http://lists.ausnog.net/mailman/listinfo/ausnog
>
>
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