Any affordable switch that will allow me to have MRTG graph for each server connected to the switch? I was thinking about Netgear FS516 (16 ports dual 10/100 mbps switch) but somebody told me that it can't do MRTG reports...

Any other suggestions besides the expensive Cisco and the like?

cheers,
:beer:

I believe you can do mrtg graphs regardless of what switch you use if you set up the network right. But anyways if your wanting to do extensive monitoring, graphing, etc... I believe you neede a switch that supports snmp (or something), I could be wrong this isnt my area of expertise....

dektong,

The Cisco 2900 Enterprise series will allow you to do it. If you e-mail me off-board I will send you a private link to see some of the output.

Charles,

any switches you know that will let me do that?

cheers,
:beer:

Charles is right, generally you want what is referred to as a managed switch. The managed switch will allow you to enable SNMP and other services (generally a managed switch is one that has either a telnet or web-based interface).

Originally posted by uuallan
If you e-mail me off-board I will send you a private link to see some of the output.

mail sent, and thank you in advance :D

cheers,
:beer:

Replied, and no problem :)

I have just talked to 3COM's sales rep. How do you guys think about 3COM SuperStack 3 Switch 3300 series? The sales rep told me that the switch is also SNMP capable. So does it mean I can have MRTG report? How does it really work? (sorry, a really newbie question here... hope somebody will jump in and help). The 3COM 3300 series switch also comes with its own software (transcend) that will give you basically the same reporting as MRTG (I suppose... the sales rep did not know about MRTG).

Thank you for anybody's help...

cheers,
:beer:

The 3300 series is fine as long as you don't plan on pushing more than 40-50 megs through it, which should be more than enough.

Stay away from Transcendm,unless the idea of configuring MRTG petrifies you. Transcend is a great monitoring tool but very difficult to generate reports for clients from it.

MRTG is is nice, all you have to d ois turn on SNMP, assign a public community to the switch and run MRTG, from a remote server to the primary IP of the switch...each report is generated individually.

You can also check out HP's new line of managed switches. I think the model numbers are 2524 (24 port 10/100) and the 2512 (12 port 10/100). Last time I check the 2524 for going for about $600.00.

Here is the link to HP
http://www.hp.com/rnd/products/switches/index.htm

Hope this helps,

You'll need a managed switch with SNMP support to generate MRTG graphs.

I dont think NetGear (which is just another name for Bay Networks low end products) make managed switches.

With Cisco 19xx series switches going for dirt cheap on eBay, you'd be a fool to go with anything else (even if you are on a tight budget). Of course, if money is no object, Extreme Networks is the way to go.

Stay away from HP when it comes to switches. Trust me.

Cheers,

Raj Dutt

Hei raj, uuallan, and mike... thanks for your reply...

How about Cisco Catalyst 3100? It only has 10 mbps ports though... This is an older model, but is it inferior to Catalyst 19xx/29xx?

cheers,
:beer:

Nothing wrong with the 3100. It looks great, as long as you don't think any of the servers will need more than a 10 meg connection, it should suit your needs perfectly. Don't know if you browsed Cisco's site yet, but you can get an overview of its capabilities here:

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/si/casi/ca3000/prodlit/c3100_ds.htm

Hey Raj,

What's up with HP switch. That is what we use and love them. Can you give me a little more detail on why to stay away?

Thanks

yea we use a couple hp provurve 4000m and have had little to no problems but we have encountered something funny, their port counters seem to reset before the hit 5 gigs and their not supposed to ever reset... anyone else exp. this...

I am looking for a switch, and I was going to go with the Hewlett Packard PROCURVE switches!!


now that some people dislike them, can you tell me why??? also, guys, do you know of any good affordable switch that will allow me to have MRTG graph? ( same problem here dektong ;-) )

FWIW, another alternative would be to get a dumb switch but add a smart transparent bridge running BSD+ipfw. Many routers are already based on BSD kernels, and building a transparent bridge yourself would give you much more control over traffic flows than you'd get from any but the most expensive routers.

any more comments?? this is a really good topic! I have been searching for an affordable switch that will allow us to have MRTG graph with no luck!!

any help here.



note: cperciva, please don't make thing confusing ;-) I will pay more to get a switch that is going to make my life easier ;-) ( just kidding )

I am very happy with the Bayswith 350T, never given me an ounce of problem. They have SNMP, so no problem with MRTG.

Very good switch!

I use to work at Dialtone and Dialtone uses cisco catalyst 1900 for the final distribution. Furthermore, i use two catalysts 1900's and run mrtg on each one with out a problem... my next step is to run cperciva's infamous script...if i can find it...