Member Avatar for Daywraith

Hi,
I administer a small network of about 150 pc’s. Currently it’s run as a work group (no active directory) but as the business is growing I may be able to convince them to move to an active directory system.

At the moment I have no real network monitoring capability. One of the old switches is dieing and needs to be replaced. I don’t have any experience with managed switches or their capabilities and am looking for recommendations.

The switch will be responsible for a new department/group with around 20-30 computers. I really would like the ability to monitor which computers on the switch are sending traffic to other computers and how much etc.

Does any one have any recommendations? I probably can’t convince them to fund anything over $500 US but something under $250 should be easy enough.

Thanks for any advice.

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Member Avatar for Thinka

Hello mate.

I am a systems administrator myself, and we use Linksys Switches, which work fine. Cisco quality, industry standard, at apparently a fraction of the cost. However I have just checked out the 48-port switches and they look pretty dear.

Also, do you not have an in-house server, (which would imply that you use AD and not workgroups)?

Member Avatar for Daywraith

Thanks,
I was looking at a Linksys switch but wasn't sure why it was so much cheaper than a lot of it's competitors.

Also, do you not have an in-house server, (which would imply that you use AD and not workgroups)?

We have a windows 2003 server running DHCP, DNS and WINS but not the full active directory setup. I was thinking of getting the Linksys SRW224G4 Switch, 10/100Mbps, 24-Port RJ45, Managed, Rackmount.

How easy does the Linksys interface make it to track what traffic is being sent by each client?

Member Avatar for Thinka

How easy does the Linksys interface make it to track what traffic is being sent by each client?

I have to say I have never used it to monitor traffic per se. But with regards to the interface, uumm, it seems pretty straightforward, but you might need to read the help file once in a while to see what their terms mean etc. Use it more as a tool for linking parts of our network together. They haven't failed me, but then again they can't be perfect. I would say give it a try if it's possible, and if you need to, Linksys Support are pretty top notch. You get straight to someone who has a deep and proper understanding, and they email you a solution and stay in touch until any and all issues are resolved. Good luck!

Member Avatar for Duki

My suggestion: http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=871657&cm_sp=Product-_-Overview-_-Main+Tab

I've never used Linksys in a production environment. However they are built by Cisco Systems, which has to count for something. They are much cheaper than the fully loaded Cisco series switches, however I doubt you would be using the functionality that wouldn't be included with a Linksys model.

This switch would provide a decent scalability solution as well, if the company were to grow further. You could use LACP with a couple of the Gigabit ports to connect them to the server (assuming the server has two 1GB NICs), and still have two Gigabit ports available to add more switches in the future.

Hope this helps.

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