Gigabit Ethernet switches with 10GbE uplinks grouptest

We compare six gigabit Ethernet switches from 3com, D-Link, Enterasys, HP ProCurve, Nortel Networks and SMC for features, ease of use and value for money.

Although 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) equipment was introduced to the world as long ago as 2001, it is still a technology with a comparatively niche market. This is largely because firms were put off by the high price of early offerings and the dearth of standards-based solutions.

The technology has moved on a lot since then, however. There are now plenty of products that conform to approved specs, and some organisations see 10GbE as ideal for network traffic aggregation, server clustering and enterprise backbone duties.

Increased demand has also led to price cuts across the board, but many companies have yet to be convinced that there is a business case for investing in a 10GbE infrastructure at present. Most network managers still find that Gigabit Ethernet provides enough capacity for their needs, particularly as costs have dropped so low as to make it possible to deploy high-speed networking to the network edge and even the desktop PC.

Consequently, this month's grouptest looks at Gigabit switches with 10GbE uplink ports. All the main LAN switch manufacturers are represented with the exception of Cisco, which declined to participate, and Allied Telesyn, which advised us it did not have a suitable product available.

Standard problem
One of the biggest conundrums surrounding 10GbE is the sheer number of standards that have either already been ratified or are in draft state, as well as the multitude of cable types and distances supported. There are currently three main options for fibre cabling, for example.

10GBase-SR operates over multimode fibre and supports distances up to 300 metres, but this distance limitation is for the very latest OM3 cabling; if network managers are planning to use their trusty old FDDI cabling, the reach drops to a mere 26 metres. Next is 10GBase-LR, which can operate over single-mode fibre up to 10km; then 10GBase-ER, which stretches to 40km, again over single-mode.

The later 10GBase-LX4 standard supports distances of 300 metres over multi-mode cable and 10km over single-mode, but it uses four sets of laser transmissions and equipment is currently very expensive.

Ratified in 2004, the IEEE 802.3ak standard, or 10GBase-CX4, attracted a lot of interest as it calls for 10GbE over copper cabling up to distances of 15 metres. This specification is designed primarily for server clustering and high-speed switch-to-switch links using standard InfiniBand cabling, however.

By far the most promising 10GbE standard is the IEEE 802.3an or 10GBase-T specification. This defines the delivery of 10Gbit/s bandwidth over conventional UTP copper cabling, including Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat7. There is also an Augmented Cat6 cable under development designed to reduce crosstalk, allowing 10GbE to run over 100 metres.

Unfortunately, the 802.3an standard is not expected to be ratified until the end of this year at the earliest, though in the meantime, SMC has surprised a few of its competitors by delivering a proprietary solution that supports 10GbE operations over standard Cat5e cable up to 10 metres.

Uplink options
The six switches reviewed here provide a range of 10GbE uplinks, but most feature an open slot at the rear that accepts modules into which various 10GbE transceivers can be plugged.

D-Link's DXS-3350SR has a single open slot at the rear that accepts a modest selection of 10GbE options, for example. The best value is offered by a 10Gbase-CX4 module that costs £1,000 + VAT but comes complete with two built-in transceivers with InfiniBand connectors for links up to 15 metres. The other choice is the two-port XFP module (£1,300 + VAT) for which D-Link offers both 10GBase-SR and LR transceivers that cost a very reasonable £701 and £1,100 + VAT respectively.

3Com's SuperStack 4 also has a single slot that accepts two types of 10GbE module. Administrators can choose a single-port version that supports an industry standard Xenpak transceiver, or opt for the dual-port version (£3,300 + VAT) that supports a pair of XFP 10GbE transceivers. At the time of review, 3Com had qualified 10GBase-LR, ER, LX4 (£2,200 + VAT) and CX4 Xenpaks, and also only offered LR (£1,900 + VAT) and ER (£5,700 + VAT) XPF transceivers. We were surprised to see that it had not yet qualified a 10GBase-SR XFP transceiver for use in its expansion module.

The 10GbE options on Nortel Networks' 5530-24TFD could not be simpler as the chassis has two integral XFP slots in the front panel. The manufacturer also offers modules for 10GBase-SR, LR, and ER, with the SR transceiver costing £1,145 + VAT. No options are available for installing modules that accept Xenpak transceivers, however.

SMC's 10GbE options are limited to fibre connections as the TigerSwitch 1000 8748L2's two expansion slots each accept only single-port XFP modules. The price of implementing 10GbE is reasonable as the XFP module costs a mere £231 + VAT while the 10GBase-SR, LR and ER transceivers cost £1,500, £2,000 and £5,600 + VAT respectively.

Organisations that prefer to go for Xenpak support will need to consider SMC's 8748M model, which does accept a single-port Xenpak module. One reason this may sway an administrator's decision is that SMC offers support for 10GBase-T over standard copper Cat5e cables right now in the form of its SMC10GXEN-T Xenpak module. It should be noted that this is a proprietary solution co-developed with Vativ Technologies, however, and only supports connection distances of 10 metres.

HP's ProCurve 3400cl-48G has a single slot at the rear that accepts two types of expansion module. A basic example with two 10GBase-CX4 ports pushes 10Gbit/s signals over 15-metre copper connections and costs £900 + VAT. For fibre connections, HP supplies a two-port Media Flex module that costs £1,400 + VAT and supports shorter X2-compliant transceiver modules.

HP's X2-SC modules offer support for 10GBase-SR and LR and cost £1,500 and £2,000 + VAT respectively. A CX4 transceiver module is also available at £600 + VAT though the dual fixed port model looks better value for firms planning on only using short range copper links.

With its SecureStack C2, Enterasys emulates Nortel by offering a pair of integrated XFP slots in the front panel. All the common fibre connections are supported, with 10GBase-SR, LR and ER transceivers costing £1,200, £2,400 and £6,100 + VAT respectively.

Ports and stacking
In terms of general connectivity features, the switches from Nortel and Enterasys stand out for the wrong reasons by offering only 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports each. The 5530-24TFD offers an interesting variation in that it provides 12 SFP ports for fibre Gigabit connections instead of the customary four dual-mode ports.

No such luck with Enterasys' SecureStack C2, which does not provide any dual-mode ports at all. All the other switches on review offer 48 Gigabit ports accompanied by four dual-mode ports. Those looking for a switch that can provide a very high Gigabit port density should check out 3Com's SuperStack 4; the 10GbE expansion slot at the rear of the 5500G-EI also accepts a module with another eight Gigabit SFP slots and 3Com offers both fibre and copper transceivers.

Stacking is another key capability, and the switches from D-Link, 3Com, Enterasys and Nortel all come with stacking ports at the rear as standard. D-Link uses 10GbE InfiniBand connectors while the other three use proprietary ports. SMC's 8748L2 does not support stacking, while HP's 3400cl supports both virtual and physical stacking. The virtual stacking option lets administrators assign a single management IP address to up to 16 ProCurve switches, and manage them from the same interface regardless of their physical location. Alternatively, additional 10GbE options can be sacrificed to use HP's stacking kit instead.

Set-up and management
For initial installation, all products required a quick visit to the CLI to set up an IP address for remote browser access to the administrative interface. HP's procedures are probably the easiest as the ProCurve model offers a single CLI command that provides access to the main setup page for IP address and gateway configuration. Nortel deserves praise as its CLI uses similar menu-driven procedures that make it very easy to complete initial configuration. We did find considerable variation in the design of the browser-based management interfaces, but HP's 3400cl software is common to all managed HP switches and is still one of the smartest examples around.

Administrators see a bar graph showing port activity while a comprehensive alert log underneath offers plenty of advice about network problems, likely causes and suggestions for remedial action. HP also supplies its ProCurve Manager utility, which provides automatic device discovery and network mapping that can show networks, subnets and virtual LANs (VLANs).

A handy dashboard gives an overview of general network traffic status and different switches' configuration parameters. The optional Plus version offers features such as remote VLAN creation and policy deployment to multiple switches and it can analyse network performance data to identify traffic trends or potential problems.

D-Link's DXS- 3350SR offers a reasonably well designed web interface alongside the optional D-View utility. It is not as sophisticated as HP's ProCurve Manager but it does provide device discovery routines and availability monitoring, plus network mapping features and alarm and SNMP trap management.

3Com also provides a very tidy web interface and offers its optional Network Supervisor software, which provides a similar level of features to D-View. SMC's 8748L2 switch may have the lowest price in this grouptest but the manufacturer has not skimped on the web interface, while access can be secured over SSL sessions. The web interface is common to all managed SMC switches and provides easy access to all features along with a simple switch graphic providing a quick link to the port configuration screen

Layer 3 routing
All six products provide an excellent range of general features, but one of the key differentiators is support for Layer 3 routing, which also accounts for the variation in pricing. The HP switch is the most limited in this respect, but full routing comes as standard in the products from 3Com, Enterasys, Nortel and D-Link.

Enterasys' SecureStack C2 looks comparatively expensive, although it does come with a range of advanced features embedded in its firmware. The switch is fully policy aware, for example, so administrators can create a range of policies to enable traffic prioritisation, handle VoIP traffic, disable applications and combat general security threats. These policies can be created via the CLI, although this is by no means an easy task; far better to use the optional NetSight Atlas software that can manage policies for the entire network.

It is also worth noting that along with standard 802.1x authentication, the SecureStack C2 supports MAC address authentication.