Force10 Networks has just announced their latest offering in the crowded field of "datacenter top-of-rack" switches. Cisco has multiple offerings including the new 4948E (not to be confused with the older 4948-E which is a very different switch), and Arista and Juniper, among others, offer competitive products.
How does the S60 stack up? The S60 is flexible with two expansion bays, is stackable, has huge packet buffer memory compared to its peers making it a great choice for voice/video delivery applications, and easy to configure for the typical Cisco-trained engineer. Cisco's older product the standard 4948 doesn’t stand up well, and the 4948-10GE is better but has limited DRAM and cannot stack or expand its port count. The new 4948E switch is has the limitations of its stable mates (no expansion, not stackable) but has more DRAM and a better port count. Juniper's entry has good stacking options but is limited to a maximum of 2 10GbE uplinks and you have to deal with the JUNOS command line - which is great for the experienced Juniper engineer but will likely make a junior Cisco engineer utter a panicked yelp.
See comparison chart below:
Part ID | F10 S60-01-GE-48T | Cisco 4948-10GE | Cisco 4948E-S | Arista 7048T-4S | Juniper EX4200-48T |
List Price | $10,595 | $12,500 | $12,995 | $11,995 | $10,800 |
Switch Fabric Capacity | 136Gbps 131Mpps | 136Gbps 102Mpps | 176Gbps 131Mpps | 176Gbps 120Mpps | 136Gbps 101Mpps |
DRAM | 2GB | 256MB | 1GB | 2GB | 1GB |
Packet Buffer Memory | 1.25GB | 16MB | 17.5MB | 768MB | not given |
Max VLANs | 1024 | 4096 | 4096 | 4094 | 4096 |
MAC Addresses | 32,000 | 55,000 | 55,000 | 16,000 | 24,000 |
Port Count | 44x 10/100/1000 4x 10/100/1000 SFP | 48x 10/100/1000 2x X2 | 48x 10/100/1000, 4x 1G/10G SFP+ | 48x 10/100/1000, 4x 1G/10G SFP+ | 48x 10/100/1000 |
Expansion Bays | 2 | none | none | none | 1 |
Stackable | yes | no | no | no | yes |
Features of note:
Force10 S60: two expansion bays for either a 2 port 10G SFP+ module or a 2 port stacking module.
Cisco 4948-10GE and 4948E: only 4948E supports IPv6, software to support BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, EIGRP is an additional fee.
Arista 7048: has optional software license to support Citrix server load balancing software.
Juniper EX4200: Stacking capability built in, single expansion bay supports 4 port SPF, 2 port XFP, or 2 port SFP+.
Most notably, to me, is the tight clustering of prices. It is as if no one actually wants to win this race - or rather the competitors are comfortable ceding the majority of the market to Cisco and fight for the periphery. The F10 S60 is a viable choice, and besides an incomprehensible decision to allow for a max of 1024 VLANS may be the best choice amongst all current entries. Depending on the discount offered it may also be the cheapest. But the little badge in the corner doesn't say "Cisco"...
References:
F10 S60
http://www.force10networks.com/products/s60.asp
Cisco 4948 Series
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps6021/ps10947/data_sheet_c78-598933.html
Arista 7048
http://www.aristanetworks.com/media/system/pdf/7048_Datasheet.pdf
Juniper EX4200
http://www.juniper.net/us/en/local/pdf/datasheets/1000215-en.pdf
