What Is Ethernet Leaf Switch

At present, with the massive increase in data transmitting and the need for real time data travel within the network, Ethernet switching technology has evolved greatly over the last decade. As a result, the existing aging three-tier design has been replaced by the new leaf and spine architecture in data centers. This new network architecture requires specially designed leaf switch in order to work. So how much do you know about leaf switch? Here we’ll explain this data switch in this article.

Leaf Switch Introduction

As the figure1 shows, a leaf-spine architecture is usually composed of spine switches and leaf switches. Leaf switch is used to gather the traffic from the server nodes, then link to the network core that consists of spine switches. In this case, every leaf switch connects to every spine, which contributes to minimizing the network latency and bottlenecks. Therefore, the leaf and spine architecture allows for huge amounts of bandwidth and provides a high level of redundancy.

leaf switch in Leaf_Spine architecture

Figure 1: Leaf-Spine Architecture

Traditional Three-Tier VS Leaf-Spine Architecture

Commonly, a traditional model includes three layers, core, aggregation and access. And most data center services and functions run on physical hardware that drives “north-south” traffic. If there are some east-west traffic that needed to be transferred across the traditional model, devices connected on the same access layer contend for bandwidth. Therefore, congestion will be created between the access and aggregation layer.

traditional Three_Tier

Figure 2: Traditional Three-Tier Topology

Unlike the traditional three-tier, the access layer of leaf-spine structure is formed by each leaf switch that is directly connected to each spine switch. And this direct connection helps to minimize the traffic bottlenecks and latency, and utilize the networking protocols and methodologies to create a dynamic network.

Leaf-Spine Architecture Advantages

As described above, we know the advantage of leaf-spine model is the improved latency and reduced bottlenecks. With this new approach, only a few data switches are needed to create a large and non-blocking fabric. This is the main advantage that makes it popular in networking system.

In addition, leaf-spine uses all interconnection links. This means an additional spine switch could be added and the uplinks can be extended to each leaf switch, which can increase the interlayer bandwidth. Therefore, it allows the network to scale without managing or disrupting the Layer 2 switching protocols as the traffic grows.

Leaf Switch Recommendation

To keep pace with the market needs, FS.COM has produced S5850 series 10GbE switches for using as leaf switches, including three products. We’re going to see these three leaf switches.

FS P/N
S5850-32S2Q
S5850-48T4Q
S5850-48S6Q
Ports
32-port 10GbE SFP+ and 2-port 40GbE QSFP+
48-port 10GBase-T and 4-port 40GbE
48-port 10GbE SFP+ and 6-port 40GbE QSFP+
Throughput
595.24Mpps
952.32Mpps
1071.43Mpps
Switching Capacity
800Gbps
1.28Tbps
1.44Tbps
Latency
612ns
low
612ns
Max Power Draw
120W/150W
350W
150W/190W
Price (US dollars)
$3199.00
$3800.00
$3699.00

These three leaf switches are made of the same robust materials. All of their airflow directions are front-back. From the table, we can see that all S5850 series products support MLAG, SNMP, SFLOW and son on. So you can choose one according to your demands.

Conclusion

Leaf switch and leaf-spine architecture make the network more flexible. And FS S5850 series data switches are the quite cost-efficient selections. FS provides a full line of network switches including 24 port switch, 48 port switch and 1G switch, 10GbE switch and 40GbE switch. Come and choose the suitable switch.

Home Network Switch Buying Guide

Today, almost every home has built a home network which requires some basic hardware. The first important hardware for your home network is a data switch. It allows you to connect several computers and some other networking devices like printers, IP cameras together. Since there are so many data switches like 12 or 24 port switch on the market, which one is the right for your actual needs? Here focus on home network switch buying guide to help you find the best home network switch.

Benefits of Using Home Network Switch

For home use, one of the main advantages of using a data switch is that Ethernet connections will become much faster and more reliable, due to the higher bandwidth it can provide. As such, it’s perfect for things like gaming or transferring network files, and other real time application will perform better through the home network switch. For example, if there are several users in your home, then you can use the switch to share an Internet connection to all the users and all the connected devices at the same time.

Meanwhile, you can use the network switch to build a home LAN. Then you can share any type of files maybe a music folder across your home network. Instead of transferring files on the Internet, other members of your home network can access the songs in the folder through the home network switch. This helps to simplify the transmission flow.

In addition, you can add a guest VLAN to manage the guest’s access permission and ensure the Internet security.

Specifications Should be Considered Before Buying

Before you decide to buy a network switch for your network, here are some specifications you should pay attention to.

    • Speed

Network speed is always the most important performance that people concern most. Currently, the network switches are capable of handling 10,100 even 1000 Mbps transfer data, which is sufficient for home use. Therefore, choose the switch that can provide appropriate speed that you need.

    • Ports

The port number means how many networking devices can be connected to the switch. Network switches with 8 ports, 12 ports, 24 ports and 48 ports are available on the market. So select a switch with enough ports for your devices. If you’ll add more devices in the future, then choose a switch which will offer you extra room to grow.

    • Price

Price is always an important factor when buying anything. There are different types of switches on the market, such as the managed switch, unmanaged switch and Gigabit PoE switch, and their prices vary greatly. So you can establish a budget for your switch, thus you can narrow the buying scope and make a final decision.

Recommendations for Home Network Switch

Network switches with 24 ports are excellent for home use. Considering future upgrade, speed and ease of use, we choose FS S2800-24T4F as the best Ethernet switch for home networking. And we also recommend FS S1600-24T4F switch as an excellent budget option.

FS S3900-24T4F Switch

S3900-24T4F switch is a great option for home use and small business. It includes 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 copper ports and 4 1G SFP/RJ45 combo ports. The switch provides high performance with a packet forwarding rate up to 96Mpps. It supports multiple functions like VLAN, flash memory, etc. to make it easy for your network management. Besides, it adopts the fanless design and therefore it will not generate any noise, which is welcome in both homes and offices.

S3900-24T4S

Figure 1: S3900-24T4S Fanless Gigabit Stackable Managed Switch

FS S1600-24T4F Switch

This is a Gigabit PoE+ switch features 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, 2 combo ports and 2 Gigabit SFP ports. The max power consumption of this switch is 600W. And another highlight of this switch is that it’s designed with green energy saving technology. Therefore it can save energy without sacrificing performance by sensing whether the ports are idle or not, and then power down the idle ports. It’s a great, standard switch with the plug-and-play design.

home network switch-PoE type

Figure 2: 24 Port Gigabit PoE+ Managed Switch

Conclusion

As described above, we know how to buy a home network switch. We can select one based on the speed, ports and budget. Using a network switch can help us optimize our home network. FS.COM is ready to help you purchase your new data switch. Feel like you need a direction, don’t hesitate to contact us via sales@fs.com.