I am considering buying one of these 2 units $279.00 SMC SMCGS24CSMART 10/100/1000Mbps Smart 24 Ports with Jumbo Frame Support Rack Mountable Internal Power Switches 24 Auto-MDIX 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T RJ-45 ports 4 Combo SFP ports 8K MAC Address Table 400 Kbits Buffer Memory - Retail Vlan = yes $150.00 D-Link DGS-1024D 10/100/1000Mbps 24-Port Green Technology Rackmountable Switch 24 x RJ45 8K MAC Address Table On ship: 500KB Buffer Memory per Device Buffer Memory - Retail Vlan = no I have 3 questions A. Does any has experience with either one? B. What is the value of VLAN and what is for? C: What is Combo SFP ports, What are they for?
I haven't used either, no. I'm oversimplifying a bit, but in this context you can essentially use VLANs to carve one switch (or groups of switches, etc) into multiple sub-networks, instead of one big, flat network. SFP ports are for fast cascading accross multiple switches, but aren't often used on switches as inexpensive as those. The cables typically cost more than either switch you've listed. So, what are your requirements for the switch? E.g. what role will it be fulfilling?
