network switch Archives - Page 11 of 11 - Fiber Optical Networking

How to Choose the Right Data Center Switch?

If you plan to set up a 10G network, what do you need? The answer is 10GbE switch, 10G transceiver and optical cable. In addition, the option of optical fiber switch is the most basic and important step to start the network deployment. How to choose the right data center switch? This article will introduce the three-tiered network model which can help you make a right choice.

Basic Knowledge of Data Center Switch

Before we come to the three-tiered network model, let’s learn about some basic knowledge of data center switch. All network switches maintain a media access control (MAC) address-to-port table which is used to intelligently forward frames out the right ports to the intended destinations. Besides, all network switches use standards-based protocols to segment traffic using the concept of virtual local area networks, 802.1q trunks and 802.3ad port aggregation. They also prevent network loops using one of the many variants of the 802.1d spanning-tree protocol.

Three-Tiered Network Model

We know that different types of network switches have their own characteristics. And we have to compare them before making the decision. Here is an easy way to look at these differences that we can break them up into traditional three-tiered network model. The three tiers are core tier, distribution tier and access tier. Core switches interconnect with other core switches and down to the distribution tier. The distribution tier sits in between the core and the access tier. The access tier connects the entire structure to end devices like computers, printers and servers. To better understand this, here is a figure for you.

The Three-Tiered Network Model of data center switch

Core Switch

The most striking feature of core switch is speed. The task of a core switch is routing at Layer 3 (the network layer) and switching at Layer 2 (the data link layer). In addition, core switch is high-throughput, high-performance packet and frame mover, which simply moves packets and frames from one core switch to another core switch, and eventually down to the next tier of switches—the distribution tier.

Distribution Switch

The function of fiber distribution switch is connecting the core and access tier together on the network. Since there are many interconnections in a network, and distribution switch has higher port density than core switch, distribution switch also interconnects all access tier switches. What’s more, distribution switch enforces all forms of network policies.

Access Switch

Access switch directly interacts with end-user devices and it connects the majority of devices to the network. For this reason, the access tier typically has the highest port density of all network switch types. Also, access switch usually provides the lowest throughput-per-port of all network switches. It commonly supports Power over Ethernet, which can power many endpoint devices, including wireless access points and security cameras. Additionally, access switch is better able to interact with endpoints from a security perspective.

Conclusion

Tasks and workloads can be distinct for network switches in different tiers. While all switches share universal functions like MAC tables, spanning-tree and trunking, they also have exclusive capabilities performed only within that network tier. Therefore, you have to figure out what type of data center switch you need. Then, you can buy optical transceiver and cable. FS.COM provides cost-effective switcher, modules and cables for you. For more details, please visit our site.

Using 10GbE Leaf Switch to Build Data Center Architecture

Cisco 6500 Series Switches: What Are the Features & Applications?

As modular chassis network switches, the Cisco catalyst 6500 series switches are optimized choices for network investment protection for enterprises and service providers. It delivers high security, resiliency, and port density for data center, LAN and WAN. Cisco 6500 series switches was researched and developed from 1999, and now they have been widely used in campus, data center and some large size enterprises. This article would mainly talk about their features and applications.

About Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch

Cisco Catalyst 6500 series switches provide multiple slot choices—3-, 6-, 9-, 9-Vertical and 13-slot of different chassis. They offer the broadest range of interface modules with industry-leading performance and advanced feature integration. Catalyst 6500 Series switches feature an unparalleled range of integrated services modules, including multi-gigabit network security, content switching, telephony, and network analysis modules. There are five available 6500 series switch models in total, which would be mainly presented in the following.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches

Figure1: Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches(Resource: www.Cisco.com)

Cisco Catalyst 6513-E Switch
Cisco Catalyst 6509-E Switch
Cisco Catalyst 6506-E Switch
Cisco Catalyst 6504-E Switch
Cisco Catalyst 6503-E Switch

Features & Benefits

—High security

The 6500 Series switches integrate proven, multi-gigabit Cisco security solutions, including intrusion detection, firewall, VPN, and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) into existing networks.

—High scalability

They provide up to 400-mpps performance with distributed forwarding architecture.

—High flexibility

By integrating advanced services such as security, wireless LAN services, customers would experience the the widest range of interfaces and densities, from 10/100 and 10/100/1000 Ethernet to 10 Gigabit, and from DS-0 to OC-48, and performs in any deployment from end to end.

—Operational Consistency

A common set of modules are shared among all chassis configurations, and any network management tool can be used in the network.

—Time-saving

With Cisco IOS Software Modularity and platform, power supply, supervisor engine, switch fabric, and integrated network services redundancy. They deliver applications and services continuity in a converged network, minimizing disruption of mission-critical data and services, which offer the maximum network uptime to save your time.

—Network investment protection

The Cisco 6500 series provides extraordinary investment protection for your network, for they support three generations of interchangeable, hot-swappable modules in the same chassis, optimizing IT infrastructure usage, maximizing ROI, and reducing TCO.

Applications of Cisco 6500 Series Switches

The Cisco 6500 series switches are mainly deployed in campus networks, metro edge, Internet service provider (ISP) and grid computer networks. Owing to time and space limiting, we would only clarify the first two in this passage.

Campus Networks

As we mentioned in the first paragraph, the Cisco 6500 series switches have been widely applied to campus network. The 10/100 and 10/100/1000 autosensing modules provide inline power for the wiring closet. Besides, they are equipped with the work-class networking software and 1/10 Gigabit interface modules, which feature as robust high-availability, security and manageability. All in all, that would be of high performance for your distribution and core network in campus.

Deployment of Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches in campus network

Figure2: Deployment of Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches in campus network

Metro Edge

The Cisco 6500 switches provide point-to-point and multipoint Ethernet services, which is rather suitable for metro and intermetro network deployments. It has edge, distribution, and core network-layer interfaces, which is compliant with Network Equipment Building Standards (NEBS). They offer high performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks that is of security, availability, and manageability.

Deployment of Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches in Metro Edge

Figure3: Deployment of Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches in Metro Edge

Cisco Catalyst 6509-E Switch

As one of Cisco 6500 series switches, Cisco Catalyst 6509-E switch is of eye-catching recently. The 9-slot Cisco Catalyst 6509-E Switch provides high port densities that are ideal for many wiring closet, distribution, and core network as well as data center deployments. It supports1G and 10G Gigabit Ethernet network connection, along with 386 1G SFP ports and 32 10G XENPAK/X2 ports respectively. There are four compatible 1000BASE transceivers in total for the 6509-E switch, 1000BASE-LX/LH SFP, 1000BASE-SX SFP, 1000BASE-T SFP and 1000BASE-ZX SFP. You can plug any of the four transceiver types into the SFP port on this switch to make 1G network connection. The 6509-E supports 10G X2/XENPAK ports, you could connect 10GBase LR X2 module or any other compatible X2/XENPAK modules to the switch.

Other Economic Choices for 1/10G Switch

For 1/10G switch, you can take FS.COM for a try, we offer network Ethernet switches with high performance and high quality. The following is our S3910-24T4S Ethernet switch, which is deployed at the access layer of an enterprise network to deliver cost-effective packet switching capability. It provides 24*10/100/1000Base-T Ports and 4 10G SFP+ ports to extend your home or business network at gigabit speeds.

FS 1 10G enterprise switches

Figure4: FS 1/10G enterprise switches

Conclusion

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches are inevitable choices for network investment of Multigigabit Ethernet services. They feature as high security, scalability, flexibility, operational consistency, time-saving, and network investment protection. Nowadays, they have been deployed in campus networks, metro edge, ISP and grid computer networks.

Cisco Nexus 7010 Vs. Nexus 7710

We know that fiber optic cable and transceiver are important components to complete the whole optical link. In addition, there is another core component in data center—switch, which is the nerve center of the whole network deployment. This article will introduce two Cisco switches—Cisco Nexus 7010 switch and Cisco Nexus 7710 switch, and make a comparison between the two network switches.

Overview of Cisco Nexus 7010 Switch And Cisco Nexus 7710 Switch

Characterized by high availability and scalability, comprehensive Cisco NX-OS Software data center switching feature set, Cisco Nexus 7010 switch and Nexus 7710 switch is designed to satisfy the demand for high switching capacity in data centers. As Cisco Nexus 7700 Series switches are the latest extension to the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series switches, there are similarities and differences between 7010 and 7710 switch. How much do you know about them? Keep reading and you will find the answer. The following figures show Cisco 7010 and 7710 switch.

Cisco Nexus 7010

Figure 1. Cisco Nexus 7010 switch

Cisco Nexus 7710

Figure 2. Cisco Nexus 7710 switch

Cisco Nexus 7010 Vs. Nexus 7710

From the above figures, we can have a basic knowledge of the two network switches. And the following part will focus on the similarities and differences between them.

Similarities Between Cisco Nexus 7010 Switch And Cisco Nexus 7710 Switch

Both of them are 10-slot chassis switch with 2 dedicated supervisor modules and 8 I/O modules.
Both of them are structured with 384 x 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports.
Both of them utilize front-to-back airflow which can ensure that switch addresses the requirement for hot-aisle and cold-aisle deployments to help provide efficient cooling.
Both of their I/O modules and supervisor modules are accessible from the front, and fabric modules and fan trays are accessible from the back of the chassis.
Both of their fan trays are composed of independent variable-speed fans which can automatically adjust to the ambient temperature, and this helps reduce power consumption in well-managed facilities while enables optimum operation of the switch.
Both of their systems not only allow hot swapping without affecting the system, but also support air filter to promote clean airflow through the system.

Differences Between Cisco Nexus 7010 Switch And Cisco Nexus 7710 Switch

Cisco Nexus 7010 switch has 48 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports, and 16 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet ports. While Cisco Nexus 7710 switch has 192 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports, and 96 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet ports.
Cisco Nexus 7010 switch has 5 fabric module slots and 3 power supply slots. While Cisco Nexus 7710 switch has 6 fabric module slots and 8 power supply slots.
Cisco Nexus 7010 switch supports Fabric—1 and Fabric—2 modules while Cisco Nexus 7710 switch supports only Fabric—2 modules.
Cisco Nexus 7010 switch is designed with 21RU height, bigger than Cisco Nexus 7710 switch’s 14RU height.
Cisco Nexus 7010 switch uses dual system and fabric fan trays for cooling. While Cisco Nexus 7710 switch uses three redundant fan trays for cooling.
The maximum inter-slot switching capacity with the Cisco Nexus 7010 switch is 550 Gbps while Cisco Nexus 7710 switch can achieve the maximum inter-slot switching capacity of 1.2 Tbps.
Cisco Nexus 7010 switch supports F1, F2 and F2e line cards while Cisco Nexus 7710 switch supports F2e and F3 line cards.
Cisco Nexus 7010 switch supports SUP1, SUP2 and SUP2E supervisors while Cisco Nexus 7710 switch supports only SUP2E supervisor engines.
Cisco N7K-C7010-FAN-Sis US $1,100.00 on eBay while Cisco N77-C7710-FAN is US $1,299.99.

Which One to Choose?

Both the two network switches are designed to meet the scalability requirements of the largest cloud environments. As for which one to choose, it all depends on your individual requirements. If you need higher switching capacity and smaller size, you can choose Cisco Nexus 7710 switch; if your budget is tight, Cisco Nexus 7010 switch is a good option; if you want your switch to support F1 line card and SUP1 supervisor engineer, you have to buy Cisco Nexus 7010 switch. FS.COM provides large stock single mode fiber patch cables and multimode fiber patch cables. Also, you can find various types of Cisco compatible transceiver modules for your Cisco network switch. For more details, please visit our site.

Related Articles:

Enterprise Network Switch Deployment Case Study and FAQ

Data Center Switch Wiki, Usage and Buying Tips

Edgeswitch vs. Unifi switch

Recently, Ubiquiti Network Switch is of prevalence for building and expanding home network. EdgeSwitch and Unifi Switch are two main switch series of the Ubiquiti Network Switch. For years, the EdgeSwitch and Unifi Switch are featured as cost-effective, robust performance, and this is why many people have special favor on them. For they both a good choice for growing networks, it is necessary to make clear their differences and decide which one to choose. In this article, we will mainly introduce the EdgeSwitch vs Unifi Switch, similarities and differences as well as compatible SFP transceivers for them.

Figure 1: This picture shows Unifi Switch US-8-150W(Resource: www.Ubiquiti.com)

Introduction to Unifi Switch

The Unifi Switches provide 8, 16, 24, or 48 PoE Gigabit Ethernet ports to satisfy different requirement for expanding Gigabit Ethernet network and making your network cabling looks neat. They support IEEE 802.3af and IEEE 802.3at. And the operation is rather easy, you can directly connect your switch to a storage server through two SFP ports on each switch. The transmission rate can be up to 1 Gbps. For longer distance and higher bandwidth, you can use Unifi Switch with 48-port which additional added two more SFP+ port.

Information About EdgeSwitch

As same as Unifi Switch, the EdgeSwitch has the same PoE Gigabit Ethernet ports and IEEE protocols. The most distinctive feature of Edgeswitch is that offers an extensive suite of advanced Layer-2 switching features and protocols, and also provides Layer-3 routing capability. There are 6 EdgeSwitch models, the accurate ports’ number are clearly shown in the below chart. You can use ES-8-150W, ES-16-150W and ES-24-250W as well as ES-24-500W switch models to achieve 1G Ethernet network connectivity. SFP+ transceivers, you can choose ES-48-500W, ES-48-750W to arrive 10 Gbps connection.

Figure 2: This picture shows Unifi EdgeSwitch(Resource: www.Ubiquiti.com)

Similarities Between EdgeSwitch vs Unifi Switch

Both Unifi Switch and EdgeSwitch have 8, 16, 24, or 48 PoE Gigabit Ethernet ports.

—Switch models

As for edgeswitch vs unifi switch, the two switches basically share the identical switch type (switch ports and Watts), the only difference lies in the EdgeSwitch does not have one with 8 ports for 60W.

—Protocols

The Unifi Switch and EdgeSwitch both support IEEE 802.3af and IEEE 802.3at.

—Supporting Gigabit Ethernet

They both support 1G and 10G Ethernet connections and have both SFP and SFP+ ports.

Differences Between EdgeSwitch vs Unifi Switch

—Color
The EdgeSwitch is black while the Unifi Switch is silver.

—Management

The Unifi Switch can only be managed through the UniFi controller while the EdgeSwitch can only be managed through it’s CLI or web interface.

—Routing protocols

The EdgeSwitches only support static routing, and there are no routing protocols implemented while Unifi Switches don’t support routing at all.

FS.COM’s Compatible SFP Module for EdgeSwitch vs Unifi Switch：

Multi-mode and single mode SFP models are available for Unifi and Edge switch. FS.COM is a leading manufacturer and supplier of fiber optic subsystems, components and solutions. Our optical modules are well known as the superior quality and high compatibility. Besides, all of our products are tested and 100% compatible with major brands, such as Cisco, Juniper, Brocade, Arista, etc. You can rest assured to use them. For this Unifi and Edge switch, we offer the following compatible SFP module:

1000Base-LX: SFP1G-LX-31 1310nm (Single Mode SFPs).

1000Base-SX: SFP-1G85-5M (multi-mode).

1000Base-T: SFP-GB-GE-T Module.

Arista Networks SFP-1G-LX Compatible 1000BASE-LX SFP 1310nm 10km DOM Duplex LC SMF Transceiver Module

Figure 3: This picture shows FS SFP Transceiver(Resource: fs.com/uk)

Conclusion

Ubiquiti Network Switch seems to be an irresistible trend for home network connectivity. Through this passage, we learned that EdgeSwitch vs Unifi switch are different in color, management and routing protocols. If you are looking for compatible SFP transceivers for those two kinds of switches, you can give FS.COM a try. In addition to SFP transceivers, we still offer many other optical products, such as patch cables, SFP+, QSFP and QSFP28 optical modules, network cables, switches, etc. If you are interested, you can visit www.fs.com.

Network Virtualization and Challenges in SDN/NFV Implementation

Software defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) are two closely related technologies that are both toward network virtualization and automation. The occurrence of these two technologies are mainly driven by the requirements for robust data management systems and access to bandwidth by servers located at different sites and connected over long distances through public and private clouds. SDN and NFV have some similarities but they are different in many aspects. In addition, though SDN and NFV are highly promoted as next-generation dominants in recent years, there are still many challenges in successfully deploying them. This post will give some basic knowledge of SDN vs NFV, and the challenges faced in implementing SDN and NFV.

SDN vs NFV: What Are They?

Although SDN and NFV are both network virtualization technologies, they’re really not dependent on each other. And it is not always necessary to involve them in the same network. The infrastructures of SDN and NFV will be explained in the following text, and the major differences between them will be displayed.

What Is SDN?

The function of SDN is somewhat hinted by its name. With SDN, the users are able to manage and control the entire network through software that makes networks centrally programmable. It achieves this by separating the system that decides where traffic is sent (the control plane) from the underlying system that pushes packets of data to specific destinations (the data plane). As known to network administrators and value added resellers (VARs), SDN is built on network switches that can be programmed through an SDN controller based on an industry standard controller like OpenFlow.

What Is NFV?

Network function virtualization is similar to traditional server virtualization mechanisms but clearly focuses on networking services. Within NFV, they’re virtualized network functions. It means NFV separates network functions from routers, firewalls, load balancers and other dedicated hardware devices and allows network services to be hosted on virtual machines. Virtual machines have a manager, which allows multiple operating systems to share a single hardware processor.

SDN vs NFV: What Are the Differences?

Both SDN and NFV rely on software that operates on commodity servers and switches, but both technologies operate at different levels of the network. They are not dependent and you could perfectly have just an NFV platform operating a piece of your environment without the inclusion of full-developed SDN or only SDN. The following figure shows a use case of SDN and NFV.

The differences between SDN vs NFV can be summarized from five aspects. They are presented in the table below.

	SDN	NFV
Basics	SDN separates control and data and centralizes control and programmability of the network.	NFV transfers network functions from dedicated appliances to generic servers.
Areas of Operation	SDN operates in a campus, data center and/or cloud environment.	NFV targets the service provider network.
Initial Application Target	SDN software targets cloud orchestration and networking.	NFV software targets routers, firewalls, gateways, WAN (wide area network), CDN (content delivery network), accelerators and SLA (service level agreement) assurance.
Protocols	OpenFlow.	No protocols, yet.
Supporting Organization	Open Networking Foundation (ONF).	ETSI NFV working group.

Challenges in SDN/NFV Implementation

Though SDN and NFV are promising technologies, there are still many roadblocks in their deployments. Complete standards and proven examples are still needed for wider implementation of SDN/NFV.

Security is one of the biggest concerns in implementing SDN. While centralized control and virtualization of network topology are powerful assets that SDN allows, they also create new security vulnerabilities that must be addressed. The positive side of implementing SDN is that the user is able to make uniform security policies across the whole system. But naturally, the negative side is that, if the SDN controller is successfully hacked, the attacker would have complete control of the system.

Another major challenge is the scalability of SDN systems, in the view of the virtualization that comes with the SDN systems (via NFV). It is a fact that the continuous growth of network data consumption makes scalability a challenge for any network system. If integrated properly, SDN can improve the scalability in a given data center or network. But there are scalability concerns raised by the SDN architecture. Since it is a single item, the centralized SDN controller is not necessarily scalable for larger networks. This also presents a single point of failure in the network, which would be dangerous if the controller or an uplink device fails. There are potential solutions to this problem, but these are still in development.

As for NFV implementation, there are challenges for NFV independent software vendors (ISVs). The first challenge is to develop an innovative, virtualized product that meets the reliability and scalability requirements of the telecom industry. In addition to technical challenges, ISVs also have to develop a concise value proposition to convince the large telcos why they should adopt a new, unproven product into their highly complex network operations.

Conclusion

To sum up, when SDN vs NFV, it is no doubt that both of them can bring many benefits to network administrators by accomplishing virtualization and automation of the systems. And it also cannot be denied that there are still many improvements needed to be made for SDN and NFV deployments. Knowing the pros and cons of them can help in correctly facing these technologies and avoid blind following up or complete refusal to new products. FS.COM has announced new 10/40/100GbE open networking switches for data centers and enterprise networks, which support SDN/NFV. Also high performance 40G and 100G DAC and optical transceivers are provided at competitive prices. For more details about SDN switches, please visit www.fs.com or e-mail to sales@fs.com.