Networking

Earlier before this year we did not anticipate the shared bikes would be widely spread all over the world, but now at the end of this year they are already everywhere. Shared bike is one of the instances of the Internet of Things (IoT), and there are many other applications that have witnessed the development of network-dependent technologies, such as self-driving cars, smart mobile phones/pads, etc. They are all calling for high bandwidth and low latency. But the old network infrastructure of data centers is not capable enough in such an environment, especially for those data centers that should deal with a huge amount of traffic. So some data centers are upgrading from 10G networking to 40G networking by using 40 Gigabit Ethernet switch, of which a 32-port 40G switch is a typical choice. Limits of Old Data Center Network Infrastructure What are the limits of old data center network infrastructure? In the past, the major traffic in data centers is in the north-south direction. ...

Network switches are categorized into different types according to different principles, such as fixed switch and modular switch based if you can add expansion module to it, and managed switch, smart switch and unmanaged/dumb switch depending on whether you can configure it and the complexity of the configuration. Another way to classify the type of a network switch is by the role it plays in a local area network (LAN). In this case, one switch is considered to be an access switch, an aggregation/distribution switch or a core switch. In small networks we do not see core switch. So many people are having questions about what core switches are. Do you know what is core switch? Is there only one core switch in a network? What are the differences between core switch and aggregation/access switch? What Is Core Switch? If we spend some time looking up dictionaries for the meaning of core switch, we will find a definition similar to “A core switch is a high-capacity switch generally posi...

When will we consider to buy a managed fanless Gigabit switch 24-port or Less? Common situations where we use fanless Gigabit managed switches are for small office connectivity or for home lab upgrading. In these occasions, we pursue the speed of Gigabit because they can improve the end user experience or enhance work efficiency. At the same time, we require the machine to cause low noise so users in these environments will not be disturbed. As for the management functions, different people want different levels of managing of their network. But in overall managing a fanless Gigabit switch 24-port or less is not expected to be as complex as managing an fully-managed switches. Otherwise, the user experience will not be enhanced but in contrary be decreased. This post will recommend some easily managed 8-24 ports fanless Gigabit switches. For more information of whether to choose a fanless switch or with fan switch, please read the post Should You Buy a Fanless Switch or Switch With Fan...

More than ten years ago 10GBASE-T was still a bud that had not shown its real beauty to us, but now it has been brought to data centers for almost ten years. A few years after 10GBASE-T copper was introduced into the market, it became widely available as LAN on Motherboard (LOM, a chipset that has been embedded directly on the motherboard and capable of network connections) or add-in adapters on servers. Why is it popularly adopted in data centers? What benefits does 10GABSE-T copper bring to data centers? Plentiful Benefits of 10GBASE-T Copper Adoption The benefits of 10GBASE-T copper can be measured in more than one aspect, including both obvious hardware part and hidden profits it can bring. Nature Endowed Benefits Like previous copper BASE-T standards, 10GBASE-T copper is backward compatible with 10/100/1000BASE-T. So using 10GBASE-T allows for a seamless migration from lower data rate to 10GbE. When used with already existing copper BASE-T, they can auto-negotiate t...

When we have more than one switches on hand we often seek to a better way in making use of them and managing them. There are mainly three technologies that we might use when we interconnect or combine several switches together, which are switch stacking, cascading and clustering. For many people that firstly get in touch with these terms, they can’t figure out the differences between them. Some discussions of the switch stacking versus switch clustering and switch stacking versus switch cascading have been put forward, but a comprehensive comparison between them has not been made. So this post is a discussion of switch stacking vs cascading vs clustering. Switch Stacking vs Cascading vs Clustering The comparison of switch stacking, cascading and clustering should be based on knowing the meaning of these technologies. So firstly we will see what switch stacking, cascading and cluster are. What Are Switch Stacking, Cascading and Clustering? Switch stack...

When we have about 30 PoE and non-PoE mixed connections in our network, the problem of buying a 48-port PoE switch vs. 2 x 24-port PoE switch always puzzles us. If we already have one 24-port PoE switch in use and we’re just adding more ports, we can choose to buy a single 16-24 ports PoE switch or a 16-24 ports Ethernet access switch to connect the increased devices. But as for a newly built network or 30 newly-deployed PoE devices, we have to balance the pros and cons of choosing one 48-port switch vs. 2 24-port switch. PoE Connectivity: 48-Port Switch vs. 2 24-Port Switch Debate In terms of the cost, usually one 48-port PoE switch will cost more than two 24-port PoE switches of the same model, but it does not mean always. For example, buying the 48-port PoE+ managed switch FS S1600-48T4S is lower than buying two 24-port PoE+ managed switches FS S1600-24T4F. If we have a tight budget and concerns cost saving most, the 1 x 48-port switch vs. 2 24-port switch debate can end her...

KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch is hardware device that can ease local or remote monitoring on multiple computers/servers via a single keyboard, video monitor and mouse console. Best KVM switch is not typically the most expensive but the one that has the exact features you need, not more or less. Before buying a KVM switch, ask yourself the following questions to figure out the best KVM switch that suits you. How many computers/servers do I want to monitor? This is the key factor in choosing the best KVM switch. It is like buying Christmas gifts for your kids, one gift for one kid and the number should not be less than the kid. Since the KVM switches are available with different port counts, you can choose the one the can connect all your computers/servers while having no ports wasted, unless you have near plan for adding more networking devices. A single KVM switch can usually connect directly 2 to 32 computers/servers. It should be noted that though multiple devices are co...