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Best switch for an iSCSI environment?

mloraditch
Level 7
Level 7

Dell Storage SCv2000 series, affordable and flexible entry-level SAN | Dell

We are internally looking at building a SAN for our increasing needs. We've never done this before. We are a dell shop for servers and the above is the model they are recommending for our needs. They recommended a Dell N4032 switch to go along with it. That we aren't doing. Any recommendations for the Cisco Equivalent? I'm thinking a 3850 10G, but I know Nexus is more optimized for data center?

Thanks!

10 Replies 10

The new 3850 10g is a non-blocking linerate swtich, This will work. Nexus

9372 is another good option.

"Do, or Do Not. There is no Try²

Steve Jones | Senior Solutions Architect

Presidio | www.presidio.com <http://www.presidio.com/>

10415 Morado Circle The Campus

Building 1, Suite 320

Austin, TX 78759

D: 512.795.7158 | C: 512.694.2487 | F: 469-464-1466 | stjones@presidio.com

Thanks, looks like the 9372 has an option with built in copper and is priced very close to the 24 port 3850 and I'd need SFPs for that. 

If I just need basic layer 2 functionality, do I need any license options, is there anything I should look at getting for the nexus besides the defaults?

The 3850 mGig switch would also give you 24 Ports of Copper as well.  You would be able to support 24 ports of 10G at line rate as stated in an earlier post.

Thanks missed that one. Don't really need PoE but it may be worth it price wise.

chrmiran
Cisco Employee
Cisco Employee

Since you're looking for Data Center functionality in a "SAN" environment, this question should be posted onto the Data Center community.  3850s are meant to be access & aggregation switches.

"

Since you're looking for Data Center functionality in a "SAN" environment, this question should be posted onto the Data Center community.  3850s are meant to be access & aggregation switches."

That is quite an unhelpful response -- especially given that Cisco AM's historically have pushed 3850's (and 3750's before that) as core DC switches -- when we all know that the 3850's (and 3750's) were never intended for that purpose. The new 3850 10g *is* now a possible solution.

Also, I am look at the breadcrumbs at the top -- this is the DC community forum, isn't it?

mloraditch, the base 9372 will provide you with the functionality that you need and it is designed as a DC switch.  Your iSCSI "fabric" should not route to anywhere else, and provisioning it on its own hardware will achieve this isolation.

Thanks Steve for your help. I think chrmiran moved the post. I had originally posted in regular switching.

No wonder!! Apologies for the ³breadcrumbs² question ‹ but at least I

posed it as a question.

Regardless ­ Cisco AM¹s ALWAYS push 3850¹s into the DC, because its a sale!!

So I consider your question still valid.

BTW, Dell has always sold their access switches (the 3800 powerconencts??)

as iSCSI switches because those have been linerate for quite awhile ­ much

to Cisco¹s chagrin.

Anything else just holler

"Do, or Do Not. There is no Try²

Steve Jones | Senior Solutions Architect

Presidio | www.presidio.com <http://www.presidio.com/>

10415 Morado Circle The Campus

Building 1, Suite 320

Austin, TX 78759

D: 512.795.7158 | C: 512.694.2487 | F: 469-464-1466 | stjones@presidio.com

I find myself sometimes being torn (architecturally speaking) when it comes to DC networking. Best practices dictates that we use DC switches for DC functions and campus switches for campus functions. Makes sense, in most cases. But when it comes to scalability vPC isn't exactly very friendly unless it's used in conjunction with FEX, which gets expensive real fast. I know everyone likes to push the N9Ks now days and I totally get it, but if this application is strictly for iSCSI SAN and doesn't require any more than 32 or 48 10G ports (assuming dual homing of endpoints) today or anytime down the road, then I have found the N3K products to be sufficient, and cost the same or less than the 3850 counterparts. If the need is for scaling in the future then the N3K may not be the answer.

I prefer stacking to vPC but the Nexus line doesn't do it. In some DC cases stacking makes more sense. The thing I try to keep in mind is traffic patterns through the stack and through uplinks. The 3850 uses a 480Gbps stacking backplane which seems like alot until you analyze how many 10G interfaces may need to hit that stacking backplane at the same time (east-west AND north-south). Even more so for the uplinks. How much of that SAN traffic is going northbound at the same time? In most cases it works fine, but these are just things to keep in mind when choosing a switch. Of course, I'm probably preaching to the choir.

I guess what I'm trying to say (rather long-winded-ly) is don't stress too much about getting the right switch. All of the switches talked about in this thread could work for the application. Sometimes it just comes down to preferences, and sometimes you may have to just flip a coin.

I hope this is helpful to someone, anyway.

Truth be told I forgot about the nexus 3k ‹ the 3172 is a great little DC

switch and comes in both RJ and SFP+ varieties.

But here is the wacky part ‹ and why there has been a natural move toward

the 9k. The 3k lists (base) for 28k ‹ the 9k (base) ‹‹‹ 22k! Now, that is

with nothing added into the config, but it points to the ability to deliver

whopping performance based upon commodity merchant silicon (9k) at a cheap

price.

"Do, or Do Not. There is no Try²

Steve Jones | Senior Solutions Architect

Presidio | www.presidio.com <http://www.presidio.com/>

10415 Morado Circle The Campus

Building 1, Suite 320

Austin, TX 78759

D: 512.795.7158 | C: 512.694.2487 | F: 469-464-1466 | stjones@presidio.com

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