D-Link Reseller Guide: Switch to 10 Gigabit Ethernet

With the right switch and a bit of planning in advance, the switch to the 10 Gigabit Ethernet technology succeeds without problems. This gives companies of all sizes a stable, efficient and future-proof basis for their network.

Who would have thought: 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10G Ethernet) celebrates its 17th birthday this year. Only four years after being ratified by Gigabit Ethernet, the standard has so far mainly been found in large companies. The technology followed the same cycles as all new launches: first, it was profitable only for select high-demand applications, then prices per port declined as volumes increased. But while the big corporations are already using the faster successors 40G and 100G, the middle class, in particular, is still reluctant to upgrade or convert. Why this is unfounded or even negligent, you will learn in this guide.

The need for 10 Gigabit is acute

In small and medium-sized enterprises, gigabit switches are often the exception – even in the backbone. When things get tight, administrators prefer to bundle a few gigabit ports to mend the bottlenecks. This is not future-proof. At some point, it will be scarce again. And with today’s thirst for apps and the cloud bias, this will be sooner rather than later. According to a study by the market research institute DCI, the global data volume is expected to increase 8-fold from 2018 to 2025 in 2018, more precisely from 33 to a total of 175 zettabytes. This information must be moved, edited, stored and exchanged. However, many companies neglect the impact that the network infrastructure has on handling their own data.

But only a well-lit 802.11 ac Wave 2 WLAN radio link with an access point can already demand a gigabit bandwidth. Multiple access points multiply this claim. The increasing spread of public or hybrid cloud applications to backbone bandwidths is even more dramatic. However, the outsourced applications can only be usefully used if the connection between cloud and end device is so fast that the work is seamless and without latency. This includes a well thought-out infrastructure with sufficient reserves. 10G Ethernet is the ideal basis for this. More precisely: 10G Ethernet is the next – and necessary – iteration on the way to the future.

SMEs benefit from the right 10G switch

Even though companies can still mend the holes in the throughput blanket with gigabit trunking at the moment, this is not endless. It is also expensive. The prices for multiple trunking ports easily reach those of a 10G module. In principle, it is also clear to everyone that 10G makes the right technology and a changeover sensible. Often, there are only fears of contact with the “new” technology and the supposed higher requirements. But now there are switches for every application and every environment. 

For the small company, which wants to drill up their backbone, up to the internationally established medium-sized enterprise, which in addition to the speed also requires advanced Layer-3 features. New chipsets have led to Gigabit managed switches such as the D-Link DGS-3130 series, Small and medium-sized businesses, in particular, benefit from a 10G backbone in many ways – not least because of the simplified network design. Today, many access switches have 10G ports for the uplink to the backbone and provide 24 or 48 Gigabit ports for the clients. 

If you want to spend enough bandwidth on your endpoints in your office, you do not have to bundle gigabit ports, but you can provide more than enough power over the 10G uplinks. This reduces error-prone trunking and leaves more access ports for the clients. The increase in bandwidth makes it possible to bring more services to the network. Telephony via VoIP, for example, is not a problem in addition to permanent file transfers and data-intensive browsing and streaming. This also applies to IP video surveillance,

Thanks to flexible media modules, the transition is physically easy to accomplish. The administrators do not need any new cabling if they use the standard CAT7 standard for copper cables. Of course, 10G is also an option over fiber, depending on the distance and existing infrastructure. Add to that the helpful layer 2 and layer 3 functions of the switches. The characteristics of a model depend on the manufacturer and the orientation of the product line. Especially D-Link brings with its new DGS-3130 series numerous useful options for the middle class with a very good price-performance ratio. For example, extensive 802.1x authentication capabilities are included to increase network security.

D-Link DGS-3130-30TS

Migration according to plan

With D-Link’s rich product and service offering, willing-to-change companies have plenty of choice on their way to becoming a fast backbone. Planning and preparation also require IT departments to find out which resources are most heavily used. Who needs to benefit the most from an upgrade? Comprehensive and up-to-date documentation of all links in the network is required. The wiring is relatively uncritical. Copper media according to the CAT7 standard has been widespread for years. If needed, they can be quickly renewed in the backbone area within the racks and data center. An additional bonus: With CAT7 cables, the new IEEE 802.3bt PoE Power over Ethernet standard can also be implemented. Both 2.5G, 5G and 10G Ethernet are supported.

A sensible migration plan helps companies achieve their goals without service interruptions. No one has to change its complete backbone network, including the floor wiring, to 10G in one go. Slow migration in stages initially addresses acute bottlenecks and provides sufficient bandwidth between servers and storage systems. Then, access switches can gradually bring extra power to the edges of the network. The switches of the DGS-3130 series with their 24 or 48 Gigabit and six 10G uplink ports are ideally suited for this. The switch has copper RJ45 SFP+ and SFP+ modules so that the right and most cost-effective medium can be selected depending on the requirements. The D-Link model DGS-3130 has a maximum stacking capacity of 80 Gigabit.

Fail-safety in focus

With a central task in the backbone, the redundancy functions of the 10G switches play a decisive role. They are not only relevant to large corporations. Even smaller companies need to rely on their backbone. The new D-Link Switch Series DGS-3130 has been explicitly designed to ensure maximum availability. They are equipped with the option of a redundant power supply, withstand voltage peaks of up to 6 kV at each port and support Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (ERPS). This makes it possible to build very fail-safe Layer 2 networks with a recovery time of fewer than 50 milliseconds. Loopback detection prevents looping within the same network and across multiple access switches.

Do more speed and more functions mean more power consumption? Not necessarily. Green Technology – a completely new topic in infrastructure a few years ago – is standard on today’s switches. D-Link, a pioneer in this discipline, provides the DGS-3130 switches with variable port control based on cable length, quiesces ports that are not actively used, and can even time-switch the PoE supply.

Security for the operation and the company

Security is a complex issue where switches can play an important role. The DGS-3130 Series features Multi-Layer and Packet Content Access Control Lists (ACL), Storm Control, and IP MAC Port Binding (IMPB) with DHCP snooping. IMPB allows IT administrators to associate a source IP address with a MAC address and port number to provide granular control over terminal access. 

DHCP Server Screening finds unauthorized DHCP servers on the network, such as when employees connect private access points in the office to the patch port. Of course, all common access control procedures based on 802.1x are integrated. In addition, authentication is also possible on a web-based basis. All three authentication methods – web-based, MAC-based and 802. 1x – are also supported on the same port. Depending on the identified identity, different policies can be applied. 

If the RADIUS server is not available, the internal database offers automatic bypass. A good example of the kind of intelligent features modern 10G switches bring today is the Auto Surveillance VLAN. This feature of the DGS-3130 series automatically prioritizes the traffic of IP phones and cameras and encapsulates it in a separate VLAN. Thus, no dedicated hardware needs to be purchased and operated just to ensure the confidentiality of the video and voice data. Faster and easier cannot pass a potentially time-consuming task. Depending on the identified identity, different policies can be applied. If the RADIUS server is not available, the internal database offers automatic bypass. 

A good example of the kind of intelligent features modern 10G switches bring today is the Auto Surveillance VLAN. This feature of the DGS-3130 series automatically prioritizes the traffic of IP phones and cameras and encapsulates it in a separate VLAN. Thus, no dedicated hardware needs to be purchased and operated just to ensure the confidentiality of the video and voice data. 

Faster and easier cannot pass a potentially time-consuming task. Depending on the identified identity, different policies can be applied. If the RADIUS server is not available, the internal database offers automatic bypass. A good example of the kind of intelligent features modern 10G switches bring today is the Auto Surveillance VLAN. 

Build on a reliable partner

Satisfied users, future-proofing, more functions – the reasons for 10G Ethernet are manifold. Small and medium-sized companies benefit from the expanded infrastructure options as well as large corporations if the right products and the right strategy are chosen. With its diversified product lines, D-Link can meet every requirement and has been proving itself as the right partner in the IT infrastructure sector for more than 30 years. 

In addition, the company invests in the continuous expansion of its own service offerings that support specialist dealers in the planning and implementation of network projects. Retailers can use these services to expand their product portfolio and increase the overall margin for D-Link products. The focus here is on differentiation from the competitor and at the same time an increase in customer satisfaction. The distribution of D-Link Services does not tie up any financial resources, as the services can be ordered in the distribution. D-Link as a partner brings with it everything necessary to make the migration to 10G as smooth and smooth as possible.

Original Article Source from https://www.it-markt.ch/news/2019-05-06/d-link-reseller-guide-umstieg-auf-10-gigabit-ethernet