I have to concurr with Robert in regards to this. You need to make sure that you pick a pretty neutral switch vendor and check for known NIC incompatibility. Also, pick a vendor with good support for all the trunking/lb options as you can get a nasty surprise.
I personally can recommend Extreme Networks kit with Intel, Broadcom and D-Link NICs. I also recommend the Extreme Networks switches as they are the most fully featured on the market and they aren't Cisco... Sorry, Cisco have just caused me so much misery over the years it's resulted me in having quite an aversion to them, plus they tend to use a proprietry protocol even when there is a perfectly good open protocol. Anyone who has ever tried to connect a Cisco switch to an Intel 420 switch via 1000 base SX will know what I'm talking about! Extreme are also great for jumbo frames, and the new versions of XOS coming out soon will have some really interesting features for use in SAN/NAS environments, like programmable MTUs beyond 9000 and advanced traffic management on top of the already impressive feature set of the current version. They are also heavily pushing the boundaries of 10gbit and have great stack functionality. Extreme are pricy, but your SAN is worth it! Chris Martin > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:openfiler-users- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert Neuschul > Sent: Thursday, 12 June 2008 10:33 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [OF-users] Solid cheap GIG-E switch recommendations? > > Hi Aaron > > Just to be controversial and also inject a small note of caution, > almost all of the units recommended so far should work reasonably well > as switches, as will units from Netgear and Edimax and D-Link and Zyxel > and many others, however [controversial bit] that doesn't mean that all > makes and models of NIC will play nice with your choice of switch, > especially if you are planning on teaming any of those NICs. > > This is a 'feature' of some NICs and of some switches; it isn't a > matter of the OS/driver for the NICs, it's a function of their > sometimes not very good design and implementation, whilst with switches > the causes can be many and various, including some sometimes idiotic > design decisions. > > Poor switch/NIC interaction isn't all that much discussed online, but > Steve Cassidy of PC Pro is one of those who has mentioned it, more than > once, in his "Real World Computing" columns. > > Some real world examples; some models of Realtek NICs may have > difficulties talking reliably to any model of Linksys or D-Link Gb > switches; HP Gb NICs may [often] not talk well to Cisco or Nortel > managed switches; Intel Gb multiport Server adapters may not always > team well with HP or Dell switches, whether managed or not. The list of > combinations that don't always work as expected is quite large and > diagnosing the effects can be quite complex because these effects can > be quite subtle - it's not usually as instantly obvious as "it doesn't > connect". In some cases it's a matter of relatively high packet loss, > in others of failing to sync speeds correctly or to support duplex > reliably; the list of possible issues is quite lengthy, but the best > 'test' is usually a direct swap-out of the switch for a different > make/model, preferably a managed switch with deep diagnostics and the > ability to support a packet sniffer. > > Before picking a switch you need to know which "real" NICs you're > playing with, and then assure yourself that they will work reaonably > well with the switch of your choice. If you have a variety of different > real NICs across your setup then you /may/ have a problem. > > For information; it's my experience that broadcom and intel single port > Gb chipsets generally work quite well with Netgear and Dell and Edimax > unmanaged Gb switches, but it's not always an infallible mix - it can > depend on firmware revisions at both ends of the link and, where the > NICs are actually motherboard implementations such as the > nVidia/broadcom implementation used on some Tyan server motherboards, > then things can sometimes get messy. > > Currently I'm fighting to get a client's new Dell 2900 server running > about 6 VMs through its dual on-board Broadcom Gb nics to talk reliably > to either 3Com or Netgear Gb switches - which is a surprise to me > because in the past I've been able to make this combination work > perfectly. I /may/ have to replace those Broadcoms with an Intel > multiport. It's a problem that can bite any of us, no matter how much > we think we know :-) > > Note well a] that budget isn't the constraint here; the problems can > arise just as often with expensive managed switches as with cheap > unmanaged units and b] that by and large most combinations of NIC and > switch /do/ work reasonably well - so don't let my comments put you off > trying whichever unit you feel like purchasing. > > Robert Neuschul > Imagineering > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Openfiler-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.openfiler.com/mailman/listinfo/openfiler-users _______________________________________________ Openfiler-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.openfiler.com/mailman/listinfo/openfiler-users
