Comparison MikroTik CRS309-1G-8S+IN vs Cisco SG350-10MP

The number of standard Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 network connectors provided in the design of the switch.

As the name suggests, these connectors provide data transfer rates up to 1 Gbps. Initially, Gigabit Ethernet was considered a professional standard, and even now the real needs for such speeds arise mainly when performing special tasks. Nevertheless, even relatively inexpensive computers are now equipped with gigabit network adapters, not to mention more advanced technology.

As for the number of connectors, it corresponds to the number of network devices that can be connected to the "switch" directly, without the use of additional equipment. In the case of Gigabit Ethernet, the number of connectors up to 10 inclusive is considered relatively small, from 10 to 25 — average, and the presence of more than 25 ports of this type is typical for professional-level models. At the same time, it is worth noting that in some "switches" individual connectors of this type are combined with optical SFP or SFP + (see below). Such connectors are marked "combo" and are taken into account both in the RJ-45 count and in the SFP/SFP+ count.

The number of optical network ports of the SFP standard provided in the design of the switch. We emphasize that we are talking about "ordinary" SFPs; SFP+ data is usually listed separately.

Specifically, in switches, the marking “SFP” usually means a connector for fiber with a connection speed of 1 Gbps. Technically, this is not much compared to RJ-45 speeds; however, this connection format has a number of advantages. One of the main ones is a greater effective range: the mentioned gigabit standard used in switches works with a cable length of up to 550 m, and by the standards of fiber, this is still very little. True, the cable itself is sensitive to kinks and requires quite delicate handling; on the other hand, it is completely immune to electromagnetic interference. On the other hand, in general, the SFP format is noticeably less popular in network equipment than RJ-45; therefore, there are few ports of this type even in advanced devices. So, solutions for 2 or 4 SFP connectors are most widely used, although there are more - 6, 8, or even 10 or more. It is also worth considering that the so-called combo connectors can be used in switches, combining SFP and RJ-45; the presence of such ports is specified in the notes, they are taken into account both in the calculation of RJ-45 and in the calculation of SFP.

To clarify, Uplink inputs also often use this type of connector; however,...their number is specified separately (see below).

The number of Uplink connectors provided in the design of the switch.

“Uplink” in this case is not a type, but a connector specialization: this is the name of the network interface through which the switch (and network devices connected to it) communicate with external networks (including the Internet) or network segments. In other words, this is a kind of "gate" through which all traffic from the network segment served by the switch is transmitted further. Uplink, in particular, can be used to connect to a similar "switch" (for horizontal network expansion) or to a higher level device (like a core switch).

Accordingly, the number of Uplink connectors is the maximum number of external connections that the switch can provide without using additional equipment. The specific type of such a connector may be different, but this is usually one of the varieties of LAN or SFP; see "Uplink type" for details.

The type of connector(s) used as the Uplink interface on the switch.

For more information about such an interface, see above; Here we note that the same network ports are usually used as Uplink as for connecting individual devices to the switch. Here are the main options for such connectors:

— Fast Ethernet — LAN network connector (for twisted pair cables) supporting speeds up to 100 Mbit/s. This speed is considered low by modern standards, while the Uplink port places increased demands on throughput - after all, traffic from all devices served by the switch passes through it. Therefore, in this role, Fast Ethernet ports are used mainly in inexpensive and outdated models.

— Gigabit Ethernet — LAN connector supporting speeds up to 1 Gbit/s. This speed is often sufficient even for a fairly extensive network, while the connectors themselves are relatively inexpensive.

— 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet — LAN connector supporting speeds up to 2.5 Gbit/s.

— 10Gigabit Ethernet — LAN connector supporting speeds up to 10 Gbit/s. Such features allow you to work comfortably even with very large volumes of traffic, but they significantly affect the price of the switch. Therefore, this option is rare, mainly in high-end models.

— SFP. A connector for a fiber optic cable that supports speeds of about 1 Gbit/s. At the same time, over Gigabit Ethernet, which has a similar throughput, this connector has one noticeable advantage - a...longer connection range (usually up to 550 m).

- SFP+. Development of the SFP standard described above. Switches usually provide a connection speed of 10 Gbit/s; like the original standard, it noticeably exceeds the effective range of an Ethernet connection. On the other hand, the real need for such speeds does not arise so often, and SFP+ is quite expensive. Therefore, the presence of such Uplink connectors is typical mainly for high-end models with a large number of ports.

- SFP28. Another development of SFP with increased throughput up to 25 Gbit/s.

- QSFP / QSFP+. The fastest SFPs up to 40 Gbit/s.

Note also that the connectors described above (except perhaps Fast Ethernet) are rarely used as the only type of Uplink input. Combinations of electrical and fiber optic ports—SFP/Gigabit Ethernet and SFP+/10Gigabit Ethernet—have become noticeably more widespread. This provides versatility in connection, allowing you to use the most convenient type of cable in a given situation; and if necessary, of course, you can use all Uplink inputs at once. However, it is worth considering that in some models, Ethernet and SFP interfaces can be combined in one physical connector. So before purchasing, it doesn’t hurt to clarify this nuance separately.

There are also switches that use a combination of two types of SFP - SFP/SFP+; however, there are few such models and they are mainly of the professional level.

— DHCP server. A feature that makes it easy to manage the IP addresses of devices connected to the switch. Without its own IP address, the correct operation of the network device is impossible; and DHCP support allows you to assign these addresses both manually and fully automatically. At the same time, the administrator can set additional parameters for the automatic mode (range of addresses, maximum time for using one address). And even in fully manual mode, work with addresses is performed only by means of the switch itself (whereas without DHCP, these parameters would also have to be specified in the settings of each device on the network).

— Stacking support. The ability to operate the device in stack mode. A stack consists of several switches that are perceived by the network as one “switch”, with one MAC address, one IP address, and with a total number of connectors equal to the total number of ports in all involved devices. This feature is useful if you want to build an extensive network that lacks the capabilities of a single switch, but do not want to complicate the topology.

— Link Aggregation. Switch support for link aggregation technology. This technology allows you to combine several parallel physical communication channels into one logical one, which increases the speed and reliability of the connection. Simply put, a switch with s...uch a function can be connected to another device (for example, a router) not with one cable, but with two or even more at once. The increase in speed in this case occurs due to the summation of the throughput of all physical channels; however, the total speed may be less than the sum of the speeds — on the other hand, combining several relatively slow connectors is often cheaper than using equipment with a more advanced single interface. And the increase in reliability is carried out, firstly, by distributing the total load over individual physical channels, and secondly, by means of "hot" redundancy: the failure of one port or cable can reduce the speed, but does not lead to a complete disconnection, and when the channel is restored, the channel is switched on automatically.
Note that both the standard LACP protocol and non-standard proprietary technologies can be used for Link Aggregation (the latter is typical, for example, for Cisco switches). In addition, there are quite a few alternative names for this technology — port trunking, link bundling, etc.; sometimes the difference is only in the name, sometimes there are technical nuances. All these details should be clarified separately.

— VLAN. Support of the VLAN function by the switch — virtual local area networks. In this case, the meaning of this function is the ability to create separate logical (virtual) local networks within the physical "local area". Thus, it is possible, for example, to separate departments in a large organization, creating for each of them its own local network. The organization of VLAN allows you to reduce the load on network equipment, as well as increase the degree of data protection.

— Protection against loops. The switch has a loop protection function. The loop in this case can be described as a situation where the same signal is launched in the network in an endless loop. This may be due to incorrect cable connection, the use of redundant links and some other reasons, but anyway, such a phenomenon can “put down” the network, which means it is highly undesirable. Security prevents loops, usually by disabling looped ports.

— Limiting the speed of access. The ability to limit the data exchange rate for individual switch ports. Thus, it is possible to reduce the load on the network and prevent the "clogging" of the channel by individual terminals.

Note that the matter is not limited to this list: other features may be found in modern switches.

Static routing is carried out according to the standard scheme, but different protocols are used for dynamic routing. The idea of dynamic is that the route table is constantly edited programmatically, in automatic mode. To do this, network devices (more precisely, routing programs running on them) exchange service information with each other, on the basis of which optimal addresses are written to the table. One of the fundamental concepts of dynamic routing is a metric — a complex indicator that determines the conditional distance to a specific address (in other words, how close this or that route is to the optimal one). Different protocols use different ways to define and share metrics; here are some of the most common options:

— R.I.P. One of the most widely used dynamic routing protocols; was first applied back in 1969 on the ARPANET, which became the forerunner of the modern Internet. Refers to the so-called distance-vector algorithms: the metric in the RIP protocol is indicated by the distance vector between the router and the network node, and each such vector includes information about the direction of data transfer and the number of "hops" (sections between intermediate nodes) to the corresponding network device. When using RIP, metrics are sent over the network every 30 seconds; at the same time, having received from the "neighbor" data about the nodes known to it, the router makes a number of clarifications and...additions to this data (in particular, information about itself and about directly connected network devices) and transmits further. After receiving up-to-date data throughout the network, the router selects for each individual node the shortest route from several received alternatives and writes it into the routing table.
The advantages of the RIP protocol include ease of implementation and undemanding. On the other hand, it is poorly suited for large networks: the maximum number of hops in RIP is limited to 15, and the complication of the topology leads to a significant increase in service traffic and the load on the computing part of the equipment — as a result, the actual network performance decreases. Thus, more advanced protocols such as (E)IGRP and OSPF (see below) have become more common for professional applications.

— IGRP. A proprietary routing protocol created by Cisco for autonomous systems (in other words, local networks with a single routing policy with the Internet). Also, like RIP (see above), it refers to distance vector protocols, however, it uses a much more complicated procedure for determining the metric: it takes into account not only the number of hops, but also delay, throughput, actual network congestion, etc. In addition, the protocol implements a number of specific mechanisms to improve communication reliability. Due to this, IGRP is well suited even for fairly complex networks with an extensive topology.

— EIGRP. An improved and modernized successor to the IGRP protocol described above, developed by the same Cisco. Created as an alternative to OSPF (see below), it combines the properties of distance vector protocols and standards with link state tracking. One of the main advantages over the original IGRP was the improvement in the algorithm for disseminating data about changes in the topology in the network, due to which the probability of looping (characteristic of all distance vector standards) was reduced to almost zero. And among the differences between this protocol and OSPF, higher performance and a more advanced algorithm for calculating the metrics are claimed with less configuration complexity and resource requirements.

OSPF. An open autonomous system routing protocol created by the IETF (Internet Design Council) and first implemented in 1988. Refers to protocols with link state tracking, uses the so-called Dijkstra algorithm (algorithm for finding the shortest paths) to build routes. The OSPF routing process is as follows. Initially, the router communicates with similar devices, establishing a "neighbor relationship"; neighbors are routers within the same autonomous zone. Then the neighbors exchange metrics among themselves, synchronizing the data, and after such synchronization, all routers receive a complete database of the state of all links in the network (LSDB). Already on the basis of this base, each of these devices builds its own route table using Dijkstra's algorithm. The main advantages of OSPF are high speed (speed of convergence), a high degree of optimization of the use of channels and the ability to work with network masks of variable length (which, in particular, is especially convenient with a limited resource of IP addresses). The disadvantages include the exactingness of the computing resources of routers, a significant increase in load with numerous such devices in the network, and the need to complicate the topology in large networks, dividing such networks into separate zones (area). In addition, OSPF does not have clear criteria for determining the metric: the “cost” of each hop can be calculated according to different parameters, depending on the switch manufacturer and the settings chosen by the administrator. This expands the possibilities for configuring routing and at the same time greatly complicates this procedure.

Modern switches may provide other routing protocols in addition to those described above.

The switch supports the Power over Ethernet function.

This feature allows the switch to supply power to network devices over the same Ethernet cable that transmits data. This reduces the number of wires and simplifies power supply, which is especially convenient if the device is installed in a hard-to-reach place where there is no outlet nearby, and it is difficult to pull an additional cable. An example is an IP surveillance camera installed under the ceiling.

The number of PoE outputs may vary. It should also be borne in mind that when several consumers are connected at the same time, specific power restrictions apply; see "Total PoE Power" for details.

Accordingly, such devices are much more expensive than switches without PoE.

The number of PoE-enabled outputs (see above) provided in the design of the switch. This number corresponds to the maximum number of PoE network devices that can be connected to this model at the same time.

The PoE power (see above) provided by the switch to each individual PoE output. This indicator allows you to evaluate whether a particular device can be connected to such an output — the power consumption of the load in peak mode should not exceed the output power of the port. There are three standards EEE 802.3af ( PoE, ~15W), IEEE 802.3at ( PoE+, ~30W) and IEEE 802.3bt ( PoE++, ≥40W)

Note that when connecting several PoE devices at the same time, the total PoE power must also be taken into account — see below for more details.