Advice on buying gigabit switches

[ntco]

Hello,

I am the IT person for a small/medium-sized warehouse. We have about 25 computers connecting to a netware server and sharing the internet. Currently we have a D-Link 24 port 10/100 switch with 2 gigabit ports, with about 5 computers running at 1Gbps. We have 7 more small switches spreading throughout the warehouse to accommodate the different office spaces.

I would like to upgrade the entire network to gigabit, starting with replacing our main 24-port switch. Although I know what equipment to buy, I am not sure which brands I should look at.

Naturally I started looking at Netgear and Linksys, but reading customer reviews gave very mixed results. I was looking at the NETGEAR JGS524 24-port to replace the main switch, and the Netgear GS105 (5-port) and GS108 (8-port) to replace the smaller switches. I am concerned that perhaps these may not be rugged enough for long-term use in a business environment.

Would anyone be able to offer some advice?

Thank you!

 

[jdeisenm]

What is your motivation for upgrading? Is something broken or slow? How many switches are between any specific computer and the file server or the internet?

How do you currently know if something goes down? Do you have a monitoring tool?

Look for switches that have management capabilities. That way you can assign an IP address to each device and use SNMP to monitor the switches.

 

[ntco]

My motivation for upgrading is mostly for our accounting database, MAS90, which is used heavily in the office and very bandwidth intensive. I have already upgraded a few computers to 1Gbps and it instantly made the program run much more smoothly.

Managed switched would really add a degree of complexity to our network that's not necessary. We're not a very big operation. I was concerned that perhaps the Netgear switches were built more for home/home office use, and would not hold up in the long run. But on closer inspection, it looks like the Netgear switches I mentioned above come with lifetime warranties, and the current ones we have scattered throughout the warehouse are no more rugged than they are, so they look like a wise choice for my situation. If anyone disagrees with me, please let me know.

Thanks

 

[Spirit]

I bought a small linksys 24 port and it just runs. They're pretty much just ciscos without their full OS.

For £250 you could alwas buy a hot spare!

Iain