Netgear's latest fast Ethernet switch, the FS526T, is a half-way house between simple unmanaged switches and those with full Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support. An embedded web server provides the remote management interface, through which it is possible to both monitor activity and configure basic virtual LAN (VLAN), port trunking and quality-of-service (QoS) functions. Not as comprehensively as with a more fully featured managed switch, but sufficient for smaller networks and for less than £7 per port.
Like other Netgear switches the FS526T features a robust blue metal enclosure that, in this instance, can be rack-mounted using the brackets supplied if required. The AC supply is built in and there is an integrated cooling fan, although it is noisy enough to cause firms looking to deploy the switch in an open-plan office some concern.
The price does not merit fibre optic connectivity, and the UTP ports are all arranged at the front. There are 26 ports altogether, the bulk of which are 10/ 100Mbit/s with just two supporting Gigabit Ethernet, typically to connect to servers or act as uplinks to a Gigabit backbone.
All are auto-sensing and have "auto-uplink" support, which means you can connect to either end-point devices or other switches/hubs without the need for crossover cables.
Behind the ports is an Asic-based store-and-forward switching engine with an overall bandwidth of 8.8Gbit/s, and support for 4,000 MAC addresses per switch with 784kB of shared buffer memory. The five-year warranty is fairly standard but the power supply is only guaranteed for a miserly two years.
Out of the box deployment is easy, but administrators need to run a utility supplied on CD-ROM to enable the more advanced features. This finds the switch on the network, then opens a browser-based management tool, while the default IP address used by the management interface can be changed or assigned through DHCP. Password protection is available both for the interface and to limit access to specific network stations.
Each port on the FS526T can be configured independently for speed, flow control and QoS via a browser. The options are pretty basic, with flow control, for example, either enabled or disabled and QoS priority set to normal or high, but this makes setup very easy indeed.
The interface is also straightforward for network managers who want to aggregate ports together to form trunks for connection to other networks, or set up port-based or 802.1Q VLANs. Switch settings can be backed up and restored and there are facilities to collect traffic statistics, again on a per-port basis.
Compared with a proper managed switch, the FS526T is somewhat basic and has to be managed individually rather than with others from a central management console. But this will not really be an issue for smaller IT departments with only one or two switches to worry about. Nor will the fairly basic traffic monitoring and management facilities, although if the network grows, administrators may want to upgrade to proper SNMP management, support for which cannot be added to the FS526T.
Contact: Netgear 01344 39702
Price: £175 + VAT
