1 yr. ago • 66%

Recommendations for a used 10gb sfp+ switch?

I enjoy buying used enterprise gear because a) it's cheaper than most other networking gear and 2) because it's enterprise I usually don't have to worry about overpowering the equipment with my home setup.

I'm looking at used 10gb switches on ebay for less than $200 but find that even though there are plenty of options they're either vastly too complicated, like blade switches, or require licenses and I'm not that familiar with enterprise equipment to know if I'll need a license which I don't want to pay for or deal with.

I've looked at the dell z9000, dell force10 s4810p and the cisco n5k-c5548p which I understand needs a license so will probably be crossed out. I know that Mikrotik has some decently priced 10gb switches for $200~ that has 8 sfp+ ports, so that's a last option I suppose.

Does anyone know anything about the z9000 or the s4810p? Any recommendations for other cheap enterprise 10gb switches? I liked that the dell units also had some ports for 40gb but the 10gb is more realistic for now. I also like dell networking in general.

7 comments

You might want to look at Brocade ICX6650. Sometimes they're available for very little money.

Depending ahow many SFP+ ports you need, an ICX6610 might also works (8x SFP+ + 8x10G via QSFP + 2x 40G QSFP)

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/254845248977

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X WS-C2960X-48FPD-L 48 Port GigE PoE 2x 10G SFP+ Switch

2 SFP+ ports, and 48 1gig Poe+ ports. A solid switch that has a lot of help and documentation on the web. Also, learning Cisco will not hurt your job options.

Edit: Note that this is cheaply stackable if you need more ports. Yes, that will be a bit power hungry.

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/r/homelabsales

Brocade or MikroTik. MikroTik still the cheapest new as well.

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There are "cosmetically damaged" 32-48 port 1U switches with 4-8 10G SFP+ ports on them for under $100 on eBay. I don't have the need for a 10G network right now but if I do, I will probably get one of these. Of course, they probably all draw around 300W and the fans are probably loud. Some of them even support "stacking" which is when you connect two separate switches together with a thick proprietary cable and they act as one. I can't think of a specific model but I am sure you will be able to find one.

Old dented 40G QSFP+ NICs and switches surprisingly aren't too much more expensive. I am finding HPE FlexFabric JG894A (48 port, 4x SFP+, 2x QSFP+) switches for under $70.

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I recently picked up a couple 10/40G switches I am enjoying so far.

Arista 7050S-64-R [$160]

Dell X4012 [$150]

I have two of the 7050's in top of rack service:

They are tolerably loud after boot up, {boot is LOUD}
But they are not much over the Dell 12th & 13th Gen server's once running. {Rack is in basement & can't hear it from upstairs}

Also have these working with cheap 40G LR optics for sub 2km links!
AOI QSFP+ 40G-LR4 Lite

The X4012's are great if you only want/need a few 10G ports & quiet.
They are managed, but don't to anything too crazy/fancy.
Had a Proxmox Cluster using one for a while (with Intel X520's) & never had any issues.

Also tried these, but they are way to loud:

Dell S5000 ( great modular switch but needs to be in a data center)

Cisco N5K-C5596UP (not as bad as the Dell, but loud)
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Mikrotik CRS326 are pretty cheap even brand new.

I use these all the time at work, decent bit of kit.

There's also the CRS310, but that doesn't have many ports.

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I use a TP-Link TL-SX3008F. Works great, 100% silent, 8 ports is plenty for me. You might even be able to get a new one for just over $200USD.

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