Cisco 2960G or Dell 5424 THE question.

[Wikkie]

Hi there,

Currently I am using two HP 1800 switches for my ISCSI network.

After some testing and debugging I detected that those switches are the bottle necks into my configuration and I want to replace them with two other ones.

I have understand that it is a buffer problem at the ports of those switches !

So far found and which are in my budget are :

1. Cisco 2960G-24TC-L (The G series has Gigabit ports)

2. DELL 5424

3. HP 2510G-24

Further I am using ESX 4.0 with 4x IBM X3520 and 1x DS3300 Dual controller for the storage.

Any recommendation ?

I am doubting between the Cisco and the Dell.

thx.

[GeneNZ]

Hi,

I'm going through the same process of choosing new switches. Choosing between Cisco 2960G's, Cisco 3560G's and the Dell 5424 as you. What was your final decision and how is it working out for you? We're leaning towards the 2960G's as an inbetween, since the 3560G's are in an entire other price range, and I haven't heard too many good things about the Dell 5424.

Gene

[Wikkie]

Hi,

We decided to go with the DELL 5424 switches, after some tuning etc all running very well. Even under full load it remains stable even after 10 hours of P2V operatins. Just tested last night with about 800 gb of P2V actions.

Look they are half the price of a Cisco. Probably the cisco is some more stable or faster but not 2x as fast.?

I my case I just bought them and have tried them how they are, It returned in a good functional system. If the where not as good well I give them a place somewhere at the network and bought then the Cisco.

My decision points are based on the price of those switches and specifications of them.

I will suggest to not to look to thight to others comment. off course it can help but ISCSI switches is like asking how there weather is tomorrow.

Its pretty a personal experience, some al already happy with a HP 1800 Well for me they are just good enough for some normal network load.

Hope this will help you some.

[NWP_Tom]

We use the Dell 5424s in our environment for our iSCSI san (they also support our vmotion network) and have performed great. No issues with stability or slow performance here.

[GeneNZ]

Thanks for your replies,

At present, we're trying to get approval for the Cisco switches, and if we get approval for these we'll go ahead with their purchase. Despite reading that several systems are running successfully on Dell 5424's, if we are able to get the Cisco switches past the accountants, then I think its pretty much a no brainer. It maybe a combination of truth and IT snobbery, but from a networking point of view, Cisco's are simply considered better. Still, if I can't get it past the accountants, I know I can fall back to the Dells.

Thanks again!

Gene

[s1xth]

If you can afford it, the Exteme X450A's are the BEST iSCSI switches. These were used to run the VMworld 2009 Lab on the display floor. Awesome switches, they will blow the 2960's out of the water.