Henry Yen writes:
but the original poster seemed to be looking for a cheapie (although reliable, i assume, or why post the question on nanog, after all...) switch that he could snarf a monitor port from, and not a general recommendation for that capability for a mid-range or high-end switch.
i think once you get down to the $800 or so range (1200cdn), there's not going to be much difference in what you get.
So far the HP ProCurve 4000m is looking pretty good. A pair of half-populated units (J4121A) is less than the price of a fully populated one. CDW has them for US$45.72/port. (Due to a HP promotion currently running.) VLAN (802.1q), IGMP, monitor port, SNMP, stackable, CoS stuff, &c. GbE ports (SX, LX, and 1000Base-T) are available for it. Some limitations, e.g., 8 MAC's per port in secure mode. Of course we haven't really stressed them as yet, so ... YMMV, and all. Disclaimer: Currently a happy consumer. No other interest, though I think a mutual fund or two has some HP stock.