Hello,

I'm planning to get a switch. Does anyone know a good one that is not too expensive? (And one that can cap/throttle port to limit the bandwidth usage)

Thank you for the advise :)

Try the Cisco 2900XL Series. That is the bottom line for what you are wanting to do, that will cost you under $1000 on ebay. We use them and they are really stable.

If I remember correctly, the Cisco 2900XL Series is a Layer 2 swich and cannot "cap/throttle port to limit the bandwidth usage". What you need is a Layer 3 switch. Do a search on ebay for Summit24 or Summit48 or Foundry FastIron (the stackable 24 port chassis). Any of theses can do what you need and are inexpensive.

Hope that helps!

Actually, it might just be ours (2920 if I remember right), but it is a Layer 3. You can cap it down to the 1K mark....

Thank you Nodehost and RackMy for you valuable input. :)

We've got several 29xx-xl switches, from my understanding you can limit the bandwidth, but through some convoluted complicated way (im no cisco nerd, so maybe it's not as complicated as it seemed when it was being explained to me), i think the bottom line is that it doesen't have the "rate" command where you can just define a bandwidth limit with a simple command, you've gotta setup another way of doing it thats less accurate, and very difficult (at least for me to even grasp) to setup.

you can always cap them at 10 and 100mbps though :D

you can always cap them at 10 and 100mbps though

And 0. ;)

For that person with the Cisco:

telnet or console to the switch
type: enable
(enter password)
type: int fasteth0/(port number)
type: bandwidth
type: (enter the number in Kilobytes to allow)
type: wr (this command writes it to memory)

After all of this, it will take about 10 minutes for it to start limiting, but it will work. I do not know the reason for the delay, but it does work. If (and mine had to be upgraded) you have a old IOS, you need to download and install the latest IOS to make it work properly.

All in all it does work.

So, what's the difference between basic and full L3? Is it worth the money? I guess the more appropriate question is, do I need full L3 for simply hosting purposes?

Basic L3 will work just fine!

Thank you all (and especially RackMy/Mike). Ehm ... sorry if this is a newbie question :)

1. If you can afford it, will you go with full rack right away, or half rack, and then buy another 24 ports switch as you grow? Or, is it too much hassle?

2. Any pros/cons with either 48 or 24 switch?

3. Is there anything I need to know that is unseen by unexperienced newbie other than configure the switch and hook it up to the server?

Thanks in advance for the advice :)

Originally posted by NodeHost
For that person with the Cisco:

telnet or console to the switch
type: enable
(enter password)
type: int fasteth0/(port number)
type: bandwidth
type: (enter the number in Kilobytes to allow)
type: wr (this command writes it to memory)

After all of this, it will take about 10 minutes for it to start limiting, but it will work. I do not know the reason for the delay, but it does work. If (and mine had to be upgraded) you have a old IOS, you need to download and install the latest IOS to make it work properly.

All in all it does work.

Thats the dumbest thing i've ever heard... Why would i say that? Because i thought of that too and did it for one customer :D (yes, im calling myself dumb, not your friend), i did that, and after a day, noticed it wasn't limiting the user in question... so i thought "hummm, this isn't good" went back in to make sure i had done it right, and when i re-read the caption of the help description of 'bandwidth' it says 'Set bandwidth informational parameter' aka its for "informational use only" and doesen't really do anything! :eek2: Needless to say that was quite embarassing for me :D.

Also look at Foundry Networks -- www.foundrynet.com

They produce some pretty nifty level 2 and 3 switches, as well as routers.