ProSafe Smart Switch / Advanced Smart Switch

The ProSafe Smart Switch and Advanced Smart Switch line from NETGEAR is positioned between their unmanaged and fully managed switches and offers Web (browser) based management capabilities primarily for small to medium sized businesses; with the "Advanced" version of the products billed by the vendor as viable alternatives to fully managed L2 switches. The 1U switches (rack mount kits are provided) provide from 8 to 48 base ports; with most additionally offering SFP GBIC or extra Gig Copper ports for backbone connectivity.

Basic management capabilities provided by the switches include a Web based GUI offering switch performance monitoring and setup capabilities for port configuration, port trunking, VLANs, and traffic prioritization (IEEE 802.1p CoS, and port-based QoS). SNMP (v1) support is also offered on all switches; later models additionally support v2c and in some models v3. Capabilities of the Advanced Switch line include support for ACLs and 802.1x security, enhanced traffic management (Layers 3-4 based QoS, Auto Voice VLAN) and Rapid Spanning Tree (RSTP), with the newest models additionally supporting static routing. The 'S' series advanced switches, in particular (models ending with S), facilitate the "stacking" of switches such that multiple switches can be stacked and managed as a single network entity (via a single IP address). Up to 6 switches can be stacked, with up to 288 ports available in a stack. (Not all features may be available in all models; see vendor for details.)

Switches currently offered in the ProSafe Smart Switch line include:

- FS726T: 24 10/100 ports, 2 Gbit (copper) ports, and 1 SFP GBIC slot

- FS726TP: 24 10/100 ports, 2 Gbit (copper) ports, and 2 SFP GBIC slots. 12 of the 10/100 ports are additionally equipped with PoE.

- FS750T2: 48 10/100 ports, 2 Gbit (copper) ports, and 2 SFP GBIC slots.

- GS716T: 16 10/100/1000 ports and 2 SFP GBIC slots.

- GS724T: 24 10/100/1000 ports and 2 SFP GBIC slots.

- GS748T: 48 10/100/1000 ports and 4 SFP GBIC slots.

And under the Advanced Switch umbrella can currently be found the following switch models:

- GS108T, with 8 10/100/1000 ports

- FS728TP, with 24 10/100 ports, 2 Gb ports, and 2 Combo (Gigabit Copper/SFP) slots. All 24 10/100 ports are PoE

- FS728TS, with 24 10/100 ports, 4 Gb ports, and 2 SFP GBIC slots

- FS752TS, with 48 10/100 ports, 4 Gb ports, and 2 SFP GBIC slots

- FS752TPS, also with 48 10/100 ports, 4 Gb ports, and 2 SFP GBIC slots (24 of the 10/100 ports are PoE enabled)

(In the FS728TS, FS752TS, and FS752TPS, 2 of the Gb ports are used for stacking. Up to 192 ports are available in a single stack.)

- GS724TP, with 24 10/100/1000 ports and 2 combo slots; all 24 ports are PoE

- GS724TS, with 24 10/100/1000 ports, 4 shared SFP Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports, and 2 dedicated stacking ports (for interswitch connectivity in a stack)

- GS748TP, with 48 10/100/1000 ports and 4 combo slots; all 48 ports are PoE

- GS748TS, with 48 10/100/1000 ports, 4 shared SFP Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports, and 2 dedicated stacking ports

- GS724AT, with 24 10/100/1000 ports and 4 shared SFP Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports

- GS724TR, with 24 10/100/1000 ports and 2 shared SFP Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports

- GS748TR, with 48 10/100/1000 ports and 4 shared SFP Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports

The GS724AT, GS724TR, and GS748TR are the newest models in the family; with the TR models in particular supporting static routing (up to 32 static routes can be defined). Pricing for these new switches is listed at $575, $925, and $1,665 respectively.

Contact NETGEAR for further information.

product submission by EITPlanet Staff

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