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Need help finding reasonably priced core L3 switch
Posted on 8/31/22 at 10:08 am
Posted on 8/31/22 at 10:08 am
I am looking for a pair of core L3 switches with 16-24 SPF+ ports. I got a quote on Cisco Cat C9500-16X and nearly fell out of my chair. I know since COVID that switch costs have skyrocketed but $25,000 for a pair of 16 port switches is out of my budget. So, I am looking for alternatives. I am not interested in Cisco due to cost or Meraki because of their limited feature set and silly licensing model but have little experience with any others. Ruckus (formerly Brocade) has some models that look like they fit but delivery times are 6-8 months. Anyone have experience with Aruba, Fortinet, or Datto? Are they enterprise quality devices? Any other brands I should look at? Thanks in advance for your response.
5
Posted on 8/31/22 at 10:16 am to Grillades
What kind of environment is this going in? We just sent some nexus 5548s to be disposed that were great switches.
Look to be pretty cheap on eBay
Brocade made some fine switches, but I think they've had some QC issues since switching to ruckus. I love my little 10gbe switch at my house from them
Look to be pretty cheap on eBay
Brocade made some fine switches, but I think they've had some QC issues since switching to ruckus. I love my little 10gbe switch at my house from them
This post was edited on 8/31/22 at 10:18 am
Posted on 8/31/22 at 10:18 am to bluebarracuda
In a hospital. I think used switches from eBay may not be a wise decision but thanks. I appreciate the info.
Posted on 8/31/22 at 10:24 am to Grillades
A buddy that was cisco fanboy coming up has become certified aruba engineer…he speaks highly of their equipment and capabilities. Fortinet is a trusted manufacturer for federal govt infrastructures
Posted on 8/31/22 at 10:32 am to Grillades
Are you going to be doing the configurations on these? If you are, biggest things to consider are what's already in the environment, and having to learn new CLI since there are little deviations from each manufacturer.
Supporting a hodge podge of switches in a single environment is asking for trouble IMO
Supporting a hodge podge of switches in a single environment is asking for trouble IMO
This post was edited on 8/31/22 at 10:33 am
Posted on 8/31/22 at 10:46 am to bluebarracuda
My staff, who is moderately experienced, will handle the configs and I will be involved, as needed. I have 20+ years of switching/routing/firewall/wireless experience using the CLI so I am confident that between us we can adjust to new vendor's gear. Operational support is a substantial consideration so thanks for bringing it up. Anyhow, replacing all switching infrastructure in the environment over the next few years is part of my strategic plan so we won't have to support disparate gear for very long. We are in dire need of a core replacement, though, so that is step 1. I plan to replace access switches with the same brand as the core which is why I was asking for brands that I could investigate. I appreciate the input.
Posted on 8/31/22 at 5:51 pm to Grillades
Aruba, Juniper, and Fortinet are all quality brands. If you're looking for a deal though, as you've already discovered, both prices and quantities are out of control right now. Unless you go to the used market, close to 5 figures for a fiber switch is the going rate.
This post was edited on 8/31/22 at 5:55 pm
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:21 am to jdd48
quote:
Aruba, Juniper, and Fortinet are all quality brands.
These are all good answers
I work on Pica8 OS using Edgecore White box switches, it's very very reasonably priced. They were the company that Google brought under their wing back in the day to build their entire infrastructure. (I would still choose / recommend Aruba, Juniper, or Fortinet if you are willing to pay a bit more)
Posted on 9/1/22 at 8:35 pm to Hulkklogan
I'm showing the 16 port 9500 for 12000 and the 48 port for $24000. Yes, it's costly but if you're talking about using it as your core for a hospital it isn't that expensive. And you'll need two to create a VSS stack.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 9:19 pm to broadhead
I really like Juniper, specifically Junos, and we use a lot of Juniper (SRXs, EX line, QFX, ACX, MX) but if I was designing the core of a hospital, it would be Cisco or bust tbh.. Juniper tends to be buggy.. Cisco is expensive but they are the gold standard for a reason.
This post was edited on 9/1/22 at 9:35 pm
Posted on 9/2/22 at 7:37 am to Hulkklogan
Been using nothing but Cisco for the last 25 years. Cisco honors warranties and service. That's the only stuff I would trust for critical infrastructure, double for hospital use.
I tried Aruba in my homelab for a year. I kind of liked the simple config for what I was doing. But I got seriously burned, 2/3 of the 48 POE ports just went red and stopped working, switch is still under warranty but HP said I had to buy a $1600 service contract before they would even look at it. If this is the way they treat customers, they can keep it. Both the 48 and a 24 port Aruba switch sitting in the junk pile now.
I tried Aruba in my homelab for a year. I kind of liked the simple config for what I was doing. But I got seriously burned, 2/3 of the 48 POE ports just went red and stopped working, switch is still under warranty but HP said I had to buy a $1600 service contract before they would even look at it. If this is the way they treat customers, they can keep it. Both the 48 and a 24 port Aruba switch sitting in the junk pile now.
This post was edited on 9/3/22 at 11:43 am
Posted on 9/3/22 at 6:27 am to Grillades
Btw if you are in SELA & need help w/ISP services, let me know. Im a senior network sales engineer 
Posted on 9/3/22 at 5:47 pm to Grillades
What’s your refresh cycle like? 5 years? 10 years? I’d assume some of that is likely driven by vendor EoL announcements, but if you figure 5-7 years for routers/switches, that would only come out to 3.5-5k per year for your core switches - is that really THAT much for quality network gear considering the reliance on uptime for today’s networks?
Also, I’m not sure what the cost difference is, but the 9500-24Y4C would allow for some additional growth as it supports 1/10/25G interfaces.
We have a fairly large number of 9500-48Y4C switches deployed across our sites and we’ve been very happy with those.
If the cost is really just too much, I would likely recommend Juniper as your next best option, with Aruba next behind them.
Also, I’m not sure what the cost difference is, but the 9500-24Y4C would allow for some additional growth as it supports 1/10/25G interfaces.
We have a fairly large number of 9500-48Y4C switches deployed across our sites and we’ve been very happy with those.
If the cost is really just too much, I would likely recommend Juniper as your next best option, with Aruba next behind them.
Posted on 9/4/22 at 9:34 am to LSUDropout
I hate everything named Juniper. I have never had so many switches that die in a hard reboot (due to power or ups issues). It’s like they don’t know how to reboot themselves on their own. Then that temp Config shite is a pain in the arse. We like Cisco or UniFi for the smaller projects.
Posted on 9/4/22 at 11:42 am to Grillades
quote:
In a hospital.
I don't think I'd be able to professionally suggest anything but Cisco in this application, especially to be used as core switches. Cisco isn't my favorite vendor/company/licensing ecosystem by any means, and I avoid them if I can, but if you put me in charge of a project like this at a hospital routing and switching will be Cisco.
I don't even like the saying, but it's true. Nobody gets fired for buying Cisco.
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