RE: 3750s in the Core

I agree with Joseph here. Its been my experience that most of the networks
I've worked on (with some rare exceptions) rarely touch 1% let alone 10% of
the swtiching infrastructure capabilities. Not that there is anything wrong
with overbuilding if you can afford it. But if you don't have the dough, use
what will WORK.

Steve Means
Security Instructor/Consultant
smeans_at_ccbootcamp.com
CCBOOTCAMP - A Cisco Learning Partner
877.654.2243 Toll Free
+1.702.968.5100 Direct Outside the USA
+1.702.446.0357 Fax
YES! We take Cisco Learning Credits

________________________________

From: Joseph L. Brunner [mailto:joe_at_affirmedsystems.com]
Sent: Tue 6/16/2009 9:32 AM
To: Radioactive Frog; Steve Means
Cc: loopback 99; ccielab_at_groupstudy.com
Subject: RE: 3750s in the Core

Do you guys all work for the Cisco Sales team?

I have NEVER seen nor had an issue with using 3750G's in environments even
with 100's of users; even in "high bandwidth" environments...

I also have clients with Sup-720's and most of them hardly utilize more than
1Gbps or 2Gbps sustained through the "backbone"...

When I do 1Gb and 10Gb iSCSI its seldom routed, as larger clients opt for FCIP
or 10Gb Metro links for that application (and would not consider iSCSI).

The applications most companies use are simply not bandwidth driven... and
when you consider that the 80/20 model is now 20/80 with 80 being web hosted
apps like
Salesforce, colo'd Exchange, and netsuite, the bottleneck is always the
Internet link, even if you had a stack of 2900XL switches :)

Its amazing how little has changed on that front in the United States in 10
Years... Cogent is a viable option lately, as their network has improved, but
many people simply get a few T-1's, do MLPPP and connected to cloud hosted
servers via very thin protocols like RDP and Citrix ICA...

-Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: nobody_at_groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody_at_groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Radioactive Frog
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 12:24 PM
To: Steve Means
Cc: loopback 99; ccielab_at_groupstudy.com
Subject: Re: 3750s in the Core

I wouldn't provision 37xx in backbone for more than 100 users :)
The reason, these days everyone has got GIG port in their laptop and the
software programmers (specially newbies) aren't hesitating developing
application which blasts the network !!

On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 2:05 AM, Steve Means <smeans_at_ccbootcamp.com> wrote:

> I've used a 3750 as the primary switch/inter-vlan router for several
> small/mid
> hotel casinos. Were they truly core switches? They did have a connection
> back
> to a 'real' enterprise core/data center, but the networks were designed to
> operate independently if neccessary. (And that happened several times)
>
> Because of budget restrictions and lack of heavy loads it was the way to
> go.
> Some things to think about:
>
> Load was mentioned, check it before you go this route.
> Redundancy, stackwise or HSRP. Check cost vs a smaller modular switch.
> Features, make sure the 3750 will handle everything you want to do. For
> smaller networks this is usually not much. :D
>
> Its not a bad way to go if you have a tight budget, just make sure its
> gonna
> do everything you want and support future requirements.
>
> Steve Means
> Security Instructor/Consultant
> smeans_at_ccbootcamp.com
> CCBOOTCAMP - A Cisco Learning Partner
> 877.654.2243 Toll Free
> +1.702.968.5100 Direct Outside the USA
> +1.702.446.0357 Fax
> YES! We take Cisco Learning Credits
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: nobody_at_groupstudy.com on behalf of loopback 99
> Sent: Tue 6/16/2009 4:37 AM
> To: ccielab_at_groupstudy.com
> Subject: 3750s in the Core
>
>
>
> Hi
>
> Has anyone used or seen 3750's used as core switches ? We are currently
> replacing our old obsolete HP switches with Cisco and my Company, like most
> at the moment, want to make cost savings. Consequently they don't want to
> spend money on 4500's in the core but instead want to put stacks of 3750s
> instead. Are there any major disadvantages apart from the obvious backplane
> speed issue that would make this a bad idea ? The proposed topology is the
> typical collapsed core/distribution layer with access switches connected to
> this. It is a medium sized network that will have approx 500 - 600 users.
>
> Thanks,
>
> L.
>
>
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Received on Tue Jun 16 2009 - 10:42:56 ART