NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Presale Q: Connecting M3400-8X8F to HP 3500-yl-48G (J8693A) with 10-GbE Module (J8694A)
I’m about to purchase two M3400-8X8F have some questions. These will be redundant core switches for 5 servers, including my 3-node failover cluster. My storage is direct connected SAS (Dell PowerVaul...
Concerning the (future) replacement of your aging 3500yl's, I should also add, that so long as they work and there is not direct urgency, of course you can leave them running (there is even a firmware that is still pretty recent). But yes, not having to many different platorms can ease things.
Concerning the possible replacements, it's pretty straightforward in the M4300 series: The M4300-52G (non-PoE) as well as the M4300-28G-PoE+ should be worth a look.
The PoE model exists as SKU with either a single 550W or a 1000W PSU preinstalled. The datasheet says that's either 480W or 720W of PoE budget. On the 24 PoE ports that's still up to 20W of PoE+ (480W / 24 Ports) with the 550W PSU. Unless you have many high wattage APs drawing full 802.3at / PoE+, the smaller PSU could be plenty for your use case.
Both switches have 2x SFP+ and 2x 10GBASE-T, all can either operate in their standard ethernet or in stacking mode.
The cable is definitely SC to LC and the (barely visible) aqua colored jacket indicates OM3 or OM4 so it's definitely multimode. It should be OK in your use case when used with the mentioned AXM761 (or any compatible 10GBASE-SR SFP+) module.
We also use the rather small 12X12F in stacks since it allows having both server and management (IPMI) ports on the same stack. If you have enough ports even with some reserve, that's totally OK. I didn't have the need to go with the larger model there either.
Good luck on making the right choice for your environment. :-)
Hi
While I can imagine that that choice might be quite good, please consider some things unrelated to the model choice:
ArubasOS on your current HPE switch is quite a bit different from Netgear's CLI. This means that you will have to be enough proficient in both syntax which can lead to increased operational cost for added learning/training or lost time to adapt for both syntax. I think that's my biggest concern.
(The 3500yl is also end of sale sice 2014, maybe it could be worth considering an upgrade at some point?)
- From those 16 ports per M4300-8X8F switch at least 2 will be "lost" for the stack interconnectivity which gives you 14 usable ports.
- Your HPE switches seem to be standalone models, so you can use the 2 X2 slots to distribute within a LAG across the 2 Netgear stacked switches. (What are you using the CX4 connection on the picture for?)
- With that imagined config you have 12 remaining ports per switch. If your servers have each 2x 10G ports that's 5 ports per switch (if using distributed LAGs across the stack) so you are down to 7 free ports, which is not that much anymore.
- And then you need to keep track if those ports are SFP+ OR copper since this model has 8 of each per switch.
Whant I want to say is: Count the required number of ports AND type of ports you need. There are other half-wide M4300 models with varying mixture of SFP+ and copper ports (up to 24 ports).
Also keep in mind that even with a staggered reboot during firmware updates (check the forums) there is a minimal downtime of a couple of seconds where no traffic passes on the ports until a new stack master is elected. If you server cluster cannot survive this, this won't be a good choice. (Only much more expensive datacenter switches can do that, but that's in another price range)
The J8436A X2 module is 10GBASE-SR so you need 10GBASE-SR SFP+ modules on the Netgear switches. The original module is the AXM761. You wrote you have SC (to) LR multimode cables - I guess you meant SC to LC? (LR often means "long range" and in fiber often indicates single mode whereas here you are using multi mode transceivers)
As I don't use NMS300 I can't tell you anything about it.
Concerning premium support: For the first 90 days after purchase you get phone and mail support included, afterwards you can buy ProSupport for Business (not having had the need for it I can't tell, but I've made good experiences with regular support cases for bugs without ProSupport): https://prosupport.netgear.com/business/
msi wrote:Hi
While I can imagine that that choice might be quite good, please consider some things unrelated to the model choice:
ArubasOS on your current HPE switch is quite a bit different from Netgear's CLI. This means that you will have to be enough proficient in both syntax which can lead to increased operational cost for added learning/training or lost time to adapt for both syntax. I think that's my biggest concern. -This is a concern of mine as well.
(The 3500yl is also end of sale sice 2014, maybe it could be worth considering an upgrade at some point?) - I know these are quite old, and I plan on replacing them as well. I would replace them with Netgear swtches for maximum compatibility. I would need 1 x 48 port (non-PoE) for workstations, laptops and 1 x 24 port w/PoE for VoIP, and wireless access points. I'd like both to have 10G uplinks for conneccting to the M4300-8X8F. Any recommendations?
- From those 16 ports per M4300-8X8F switch at least 2 will be "lost" for the stack interconnectivity which gives you 14 usable ports.
- Your HPE switches seem to be standalone models, so you can use the 2 X2 slots to distribute within a LAG across the 2 Netgear stacked switches. (What are you using the CX4 connection on the picture for?) -The CX4 connection provides 10Gb link between the 2 x 3500yl switches.
- With that imagined config you have 12 remaining ports per switch. If your servers have each 2x 10G ports that's 5 ports per switch (if using distributed LAGs across the stack) so you are down to 7 free ports, which is not that much anymore.
- And then you need to keep track if those ports are SFP+ OR copper since this model has 8 of each per switch.
Whant I want to say is: Count the required number of ports AND type of ports you need. There are other half-wide M4300 models with varying mixture of SFP+ and copper ports (up to 24 ports).-Budgetary constraints limit me to choosing the 8X8F. I'd be fine with all SFP+ ports, but having a mix doesn't bother me. I have to purchase 3 additional 10G cards. If I purchase copper cards I wouldn't have to buy SFP+ transceivers, which would save me some money.
Also keep in mind that even with a staggered reboot during firmware updates (check the forums) there is a minimal downtime of a couple of seconds where no traffic passes on the ports until a new stack master is elected. If you server cluster cannot survive this, this won't be a good choice. (Only much more expensive datacenter switches can do that, but that's in another price range) -I typically schedule maintenance after hours, I'm hoping this isn't much of a concern. I'm glad you mentioned it because I wasn't aware of this.
The J8436A X2 module is 10GBASE-SR so you need 10GBASE-SR SFP+ modules on the Netgear switches. The original module is the AXM761. You wrote you have SC (to) LR multimode cables - I guess you meant SC to LC? -Sorry, I used the wrong term. I've attached a pic showing both ends of the cable I have (LR often means "long range" and in fiber often indicates single mode whereas here you are using multi mode transceivers)
As I don't use NMS300 I can't tell you anything about it.Concerning premium support: For the first 90 days after purchase you get phone and mail support included, afterwards you can buy ProSupport for Business (not having had the need for it I can't tell, but I've made good experiences with regular support cases for bugs without ProSupport) https://prosupport.netgear.com/business/ -That's great to hear, I could apply the $$$ towards another switch! I really do appreciate your advice. Thank you very much!
Concerning the (future) replacement of your aging 3500yl's, I should also add, that so long as they work and there is not direct urgency, of course you can leave them running (there is even a firmware that is still pretty recent). But yes, not having to many different platorms can ease things.
Concerning the possible replacements, it's pretty straightforward in the M4300 series: The M4300-52G (non-PoE) as well as the M4300-28G-PoE+ should be worth a look.
The PoE model exists as SKU with either a single 550W or a 1000W PSU preinstalled. The datasheet says that's either 480W or 720W of PoE budget. On the 24 PoE ports that's still up to 20W of PoE+ (480W / 24 Ports) with the 550W PSU. Unless you have many high wattage APs drawing full 802.3at / PoE+, the smaller PSU could be plenty for your use case.
Both switches have 2x SFP+ and 2x 10GBASE-T, all can either operate in their standard ethernet or in stacking mode.
The cable is definitely SC to LC and the (barely visible) aqua colored jacket indicates OM3 or OM4 so it's definitely multimode. It should be OK in your use case when used with the mentioned AXM761 (or any compatible 10GBASE-SR SFP+) module.
We also use the rather small 12X12F in stacks since it allows having both server and management (IPMI) ports on the same stack. If you have enough ports even with some reserve, that's totally OK. I didn't have the need to go with the larger model there either.
Good luck on making the right choice for your environment. :-)
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
