Going to purchase 10GbE SAN interface and will the Core switch and Edge switch needs to have a 10Gbe ports as well?
Hi
We are a educational organisation and we have 1000 users on site. We did a server refresh 6 years before and during that time we brought 3xESX servers, NetApp FAS2220 SAN and Brocade switches with ISCSI connection.
We replaced the core switch as well and LACP was setup on these CISCO 3750 core switches by installation engineers.
Now we have come to end of the warranty on the servers and switches and now planning to replace the core network infrastructure .
Firstly, is the current CISCO 3750 1GbE or 10GbE
One of the IT solutions company has quoted 10GbE SAN , so will the current core switch (CISCO 3750) support 10GbE or I need to buy new core switch?
Secondly If the SAN is 10GbE do the Storage switch, Core switch and Edge switch needs to be 10GbE? Our current edge switches are 10/100/1000mbps.
Please suggest and any help much appreciated.
Thanks
We are a educational organisation and we have 1000 users on site. We did a server refresh 6 years before and during that time we brought 3xESX servers, NetApp FAS2220 SAN and Brocade switches with ISCSI connection.
We replaced the core switch as well and LACP was setup on these CISCO 3750 core switches by installation engineers.
Now we have come to end of the warranty on the servers and switches and now planning to replace the core network infrastructure .
Firstly, is the current CISCO 3750 1GbE or 10GbE
One of the IT solutions company has quoted 10GbE SAN , so will the current core switch (CISCO 3750) support 10GbE or I need to buy new core switch?
Secondly If the SAN is 10GbE do the Storage switch, Core switch and Edge switch needs to be 10GbE? Our current edge switches are 10/100/1000mbps.
Please suggest and any help much appreciated.
Thanks
The iSCSI switches do not have to connect to the rest of the network at all and therefore can be 10Gb whilst the core is only 1Gb. There are Ethernet ports for management on the storage, that goes to the management LAN rather than the uSCSU swutches,
If the SAN connects at 1Gb, then it will handle 100 x 10mbit connections or 10 x 100mbit connections.
If the SAN connects at 10Gb, then you can have 100 users connected at 100mbits each.
You basically need to look at where bottlenecks can be removed
You need to deliver the bandwidth share all the way down to the user.
If an up-link somewhere is only 100 mbit, then that's the shared limit for those users on that port,
If the SAN connects at 10Gb, then you can have 100 users connected at 100mbits each.
You basically need to look at where bottlenecks can be removed
You need to deliver the bandwidth share all the way down to the user.
If an up-link somewhere is only 100 mbit, then that's the shared limit for those users on that port,
Users do not connect to the SAN, they connect to the servers.
There are 3 different general versions of the Cisco 3750 series. The original 3750 is a 10/100 switch with 1 Gbps uplinks. The 3750G is a 10/100/1000 switch with gigabit uplinks. The 3750x is a 10/100/1000 switch wuth 1G or 10G uplinks.
The entire Catalyst 3K series is switches is designed for access layer. It is not built for a core layer where storage traffic may be traversing.
I recommend that you consider replacing your core with a pair of switches designed for iSCSI traffic. You can put SAN and hosts on it, as well as links to your other access and distribution switches.
10G switches are rapidly being replaced by switches that support 25/40, and even 100 Gbps links. They don't cost much more than switches with only 10Gbps interfaces.
Having a true core switch that can support higher aggregate bandwidth will help as you eventually upgrade your access switches. Having 1Gbps to an endpoint is less helpful if that is shared by another 47 endpoints and there is only a 1, 2 or 4 Gbps uplink to the core.
You can mix and match access port speeds and uplink speeds in the enterprise.
The entire Catalyst 3K series is switches is designed for access layer. It is not built for a core layer where storage traffic may be traversing.
I recommend that you consider replacing your core with a pair of switches designed for iSCSI traffic. You can put SAN and hosts on it, as well as links to your other access and distribution switches.
10G switches are rapidly being replaced by switches that support 25/40, and even 100 Gbps links. They don't cost much more than switches with only 10Gbps interfaces.
Having a true core switch that can support higher aggregate bandwidth will help as you eventually upgrade your access switches. Having 1Gbps to an endpoint is less helpful if that is shared by another 47 endpoints and there is only a 1, 2 or 4 Gbps uplink to the core.
You can mix and match access port speeds and uplink speeds in the enterprise.
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