We went from a edge of 3Com 1100/3300 switches to stacked Nortel BPS2000 to Nortel 470/Cisco 2950. We went from 1.5U, 24 ports@52 watts/switch to 1.75U 24 ports@28 watts/switch to our current 48-port/1U configuration. The Cisco switches consume 19 watts with two active GBICs, the Nortel use 4.9 Watts with two active GBICs. Our old design used individual IP addresses, the Nortel stacking design means one IP per stack.

So, our power savings, with an average of eight 3com switches per IDF, is around 400 watts per IDF, improving our UPS runtime dramatically. It also means we recover enough excess power to now add POE to each IDF as needed without having to upgrade the UPS units.

The one-IP management means one Radius server entry for Telnet/Web/SNMPv3 for the same number of ports. It also means one code upgrade per IDF for all stacked units, saving a massive amount of equipment management time.

We use the Cisco switches where there is a specific need, but are not widely deployed in dense port areas. The 3750 is used as well, but again, is not widely deployed here. We use what we need, where it fits best.

Click to read the article this is in response to.