I was asked to summarize what I found. I only had two personal recommendations based on respondents use/experience, so I don't have much of a rating to give back to the list. However, I did do some research as follows. Some disclaimers/explanations: 1. Best Price = no gbics. Total Price = includes gbics @ $80/each (generic brand GBIC, not sure it they work in all models. I've not had problems using generic gbics in FC switches.ymmv) 2. Feature set is my personal subjective rating based on high-level features important to me. Your feature-set needs may be different. 3. Couldn't find RPS info on two switches. As an alternative, I like to use Tripplite Digital Power ATS PDUs for all my single-power-supply gear. 4. There may be additional costs for various feature sets. 5. Best pricing usually means used/refurbed gear with warranties. I've added the base list price (without gbics) if you like shiny new. 6. No warranties expressed or implied as to the accuracy/completeness of the info below (I didn't call each manufacturer to verify their documentation). If you can clarify any inaccuracies, send me a note off-list. 7. I couldn't verify if the Force10 needed gbics or not.two different documents gave conflicting information, so I assumed worst-case. 8. No particular ranking is imputed by the table. 9. Delete the email rather than complain about the html format. Product Feature Set Ports Best Price Price/Port L2/L3 RPS Total Price ($80 GBIC) Total P/P Base List Price Ciscos 3750G High 12 $ 5,200 $ 433 L3 Ext $ 6,160 $ 513 $ 11,000 Extreme X450-24x High 24 $ 4,700 $ 196 L3 Ext $ 6,620 $ 276 $ 6,800 Force10 S25P High 24 $ 5,500 $ 229 L3 Int $ 7,420 $ 309 ?? Extreme 11703 High 32 $ 4,500 $ 141 L3 ? $ 7,060 $ 221 $ 20,000 Foundry FESX424HF High 24 $ 9,995 $ 416 L3 Int $11,915 $ 496 $ 9,995 Alcatel 6850-U24X Med 24 $ 3,700 $ 154 L3 ? $ 5,620 $ 234 $ 4,200 Dlink DXS-3326GSR Med 24 $ 4,400 $ 183 L2 Ext $ 6,320 $ 263 $ 4,400 Zyxel GS-4012F Med 12 $ 950 $ 79 L3 Ext $ 1,910 $ 159 $ 950 Zyxel GS-3012F Low 12 $ 650 $ 54 L2 Ext $ 1,610 $ 134 $ 650 Netgear GSM7328FS Med 24 $ 2,400 $ 100 L3 No $ 4,320 $ 180 $ 2,800 Netgear GSM7312 Low 12 $ 850 $ 71 L3 No $ 1,810 $ 151 $ 1,000 Dell 6224F Med 24 $ 1,999 $ 83 L3 Ext $ 3,919 $ 163 $ 1,999 Telco Systems T5C-24G High 24 $ 5,200 $ 217 L3 Int $ 7,120 $ 297 $ 5,200 HP 5406zl Med 24 $ 2,650 $ 110 L2 Int $ 4,570 $ 190 $ 4,825 Nortel 5530-24TFD Med 24 $ 6,100 $ 254 L3 Ext $ 8,020 $ 334 $ 6,100 Andrew On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 8:54 PM, Andrew Staples <andrews@ltinet.net> wrote: Speaking of running gig long distances, does anyone on the list have suggestions on a >8 port L2 switch with fiber ports based on personal experience? Lots of 48 port gig switches have 2-4 fiber uplink ports, but this means daisy-chains instead of hub/spoke. Looking for a central switch for a star topography to home fiber runs that is cost effective and works. Considering: DLink DXS-3326GSR NetGear GSM7312 Foundry SX-FI12GM-4 Zyxel GS-4012F I realize not all these switches are IEEE 802.3ae, Clause 49 or IEEE 802.3aq capable. Andrew -----Original Message----- From: owner-nanog@merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog@merit.edu] On Behalf Of Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 5:06 PM To: Michael Loftis Cc: frank@dticonsulting.com; michael.dillon@bt.com; nanog@merit.edu Subject: Re: cooling door On Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:48:47 MDT, Michael Loftis said:

Yeah except in a lot of areas there is no MAN, and the ILECs want to bend you over for any data access. I've no idea how well the MAN idea is coming along in various areas, but you still have to pay for access to it somehow, and that adds to overhead. Which leads to attempt efficiency gains through centralization and increased density.

I doubt we'll ever see the day when running gigabit across town becomes cost effective when compared to running gigabit to the other end of your server room/cage/whatever.