Homelab Switches
Homelab Switches
I recently upgraded my homelab core switch to a Mellanox SX 6012. It’s 12 ports of 40gb/s, and each can break out to 10gb/s. This switch also idles at 30 watts which was top of my list.
What model switches are you running, and do you like it?
I'm using MikroTik for my networking, and I love it so far. No switch yet, because I haven't completely talked myself into the full SFP switch yet, but It'll happen some day
I also have some mikrotik for more edge stuff! They are great! But I outgrew the 8 port one I had and don’t want to pay$600 for a bigger one :)
Aruba S2500-48P. Picked up a used one for $130 on eBay 4 years ago, and it's been solid in my rack. 48 PoE 1GbE ports, and 4 10GbE SFP+ ports. At that price what more could you ask?!
This is the way. I paired it with a totally necesary $110 Arista 7050S for 52 ports of 10G SFP+ that I use maybe 7 ports of.
I got a Unifi US 16 XG as core switch for like 400 bucks back when it was new and thought it was expensive.
Looking at what Unifi is doing nowadays a 16 port 10 Gbit switch seems like a steal.
Besides that I also have a US 16 150W for my PoE devices and a USW 24 G1 for everything else.
I use Mikrotik networking gear. I love the capabilities, just wish RouterOS was a bit easier to administer.
Agreed, I come from Cisco stuff at work and the Mikrotik learning curve is real real.
Cisco 2960S that I got for $100 a few years ago. Works great powering my Ubiquiti APs. Somewhat dated, but it’s always fun to feel like a real “IT Pro” and configure with the Cisco CLI.
Cisco CLI is still useful to learn, a bunch of other makes (Arista, Mellanox) copy it a good amount.
Looks great! That one is managed, right? Do you use their software or install a different FOSS setup?
It is managed, I haven’t seen a FOSS firmware for this. I don’t think it has a Cumulus or OpenSwitch release. If it did I would take that over EOL proprietary.
Did you get it used? For how much? How is the noise level?
I got it on eBay, it had its firmware wiped so I had to follow a guide from servethehome.com to reload it full. It was for $250 and allowed offers, I did $150 and somehow got accepted! The noise when it reboots… everyone in the house can hear it… but then once it boots it’s not too bad and there are flags the community has to lower it even more. I probably wouldn’t want it on a desk next to me all the time, but it’s not too bad.
The good thing about end of support switches… no outages for software updates… because there aren’t any…
Now let's see Paul Allens switches.