I have a question in regards to if I should purchase a managed or Smart switch. We currently have a JGS524. Just an old Bit spitter for a Small office. I have an issue with bandwith allocation due to an expantion of remote users connecting to my firewall and running through a VPN tunnel.
I need a solution that will be more efficiant to manage bandwith for my users both internal and external. The current configuration is my router is forwarded to the firewall, the firewall connect to the JGS524 switch. My users are connectin directly to the firewall. Behind the firewall I have a ReadyNas, I also have another ReadyNas at an offsite location that my main unit replicates to.
That being said due to our repid growth with the Nas and VPN users I am concernedabout bandwith both within the office and the remote VPN users. Would a Smart swich or Layer 3 managed switch allow me to manage/allocate bandwith usage for my users. We purched much more bandwith but haveing a more efficiant switch and one with better control seems to me like a worth while upgrade. I was looking at the FS728TL.
Based from the network requirement you have stated in your initial response, I believe that the FS728TLP smart switch is not suitable. I suggest that you go with the NETGEAR Fully Managed Switches like the M4100 Series or the M4300 Series.
Let me share this forum thread here since its kinda similar to your concern and it will give you an idea why a Fully Managed Switch is needed instead of a Smart Switch.
Furthermore, let me share the NETGEAR Business Products Catalog 2017 here.
