Choosing the right core switch?

[ciscomeo]

Which is a better coreswitch that will provide better perfomance and reliability, a stacked Cat-3700 series or a chasis/modular type Cat-4500 series switch?

We are and SMB company around 500 users, around 30 servers.

Can someone give me some pointer on picking the riht core switch?

Thanks,
Ciscomeo

 

[burtsbees]

Depends---do you have the three tier hierarchy (Access layer, Distribution layer, and Core layer), or just Access and Core? The 4500 is a better choice for a true core switch, and 3750's are PoE, and usually implemented at the Distribution layer, handing off QoS for phones and VLANs, usually. The stack had a 16GBps backplane, I believe...

Burt

 

[DallasBPF]

Yup the 3750s have a 16Gps backplane, and I would completely agree with the 4507R switch for your core

------------------------------------
Dallas, Texas
Telecommunications Tech
CCVP, CCNA, Net+

CCNP in the works

 

[Belushi]

Performance and reliability are relative terms depending on what you populate the modular 4507R with. Performance will be directly related the to the type of Supervisor card and modular line cards you put in the 4507. Where as the 3750 is fixed in what you get and can't be changed.

Therefore, I would tend to go with with the 4507 because it offers you more investment protection, upgrade paths, etc. However, teh 4507 is not a true core switch in that sense, but you could definitely sue it as such.