Do I need Layer 3?

[pkirill]

We have one office, 2 servers, 5 printers & 40 users. The traffic is fairly blah - opening/saving files, email, small website. We currently have one 48port HP Proliant 4000m (10/100) and one Dell Power Connect 5324 24 port gigabit switch. We are looking to replace the aging 4000m with more gigabit. I'm seeing a significant price difference between layer 2 and layer 3 capable switches.

Can anyone tell me from the info above if we need layer 3? I'm not a hardware guy, so I struggle. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[KiscoKid]

Layer 3 switches offer a number of advantages over Layer 2 ones but I suppose the key differential is their ability to route between VLAN's.

If the network you have described all belong to the same VLAN and/or IP subnet, you probably don't need a Layer 3 switch.

 

[LawnBoy]

L3 switches tend to be managed as well, which is a very nice feature.

I have yet to see a switch that routes between VLANs. I know that the procurve 53xx, 41xx, and 25xx series do not. You can create and operate VLANs, but not route between them.

 

[Kwazzy]

No, you do not need to have a layer three network switch in place.

You can get Managed L2 Switches. But in most cases, expecially the network you described above, I would stay unmanaged. Being technically handicapped you really do not want to make changes or have to make changes where you do not know exactly what you are changing. I would stay with a L2 switch. Managed or unmanaged, that is up to you. But this setup is still small enough where you really do not need to look at L3.

Helpful hint: If you have an unmanaged switch, make sure all of your PC/Server/printer connections are set up for Autonegotiate. Only Hard set them to 100 full or half if you can manage the switch with the same configuration. If you do not believe me, try this with two PCs sending an FTP from one to the other. Note your times... better yet, you will see first hand. (Both sides must match for optimal network throughput.) Otherwise you will have about 60% of your traffic as errored traffic.

 

[pkirill]

Hey, thanks everyone. I really appreciate it. We do need managed switches as we do have some (older) equipment that requires hard configs as well as spanning tree setup. But it's nice to know a) what layer 3 is and b) that we don't need it.

Thanks again!

 

[Lundah]

Personally, if the budget allowed for it I'd go ahead and buy the layer 3 switch, you never know when you might need to have the capability for another VLAN (IP PBX, secure "management" network, stuff like that).