Some Current Switches

Linksys Routers. Linksys has a reputation, at least with me, of providing some of the best networking equipment for the home or small business user. They were actually acquired by Cisco, which seemed to me to be an intelligent move.

Linksys is known to have models that combine many different capabilities such as routing, switching and firewall capabilities into a single model. It should make sense that intelligent home users would like to get these sorts of capabilities at reasonable prices.

The following table gives a very brief survey of some of the Linksys switches.

Linksys Switches
Product Series	Description
EZXS55W	EtherFast® 10/100 5 Port Workgroup Switch. NWAY Technology Detects Cabling Type, Speed, and Duplex Mode.
EZXS88W	EtherFast® 10/100 8 Port Workgroup Switch. NWAY Technology Detects Cabling Type, Speed, and Duplex Mode.
EZXS16W	EtherFast® 10/100 16 Port Workgroup Switch. NWAY Technology Detects Cabling Type, Speed, and Duplex Mode.
SD205	This newly-redesigned Linksys 5 Port 10/100 Switch can significantly increase your network traffic's speed. It has five autosensing 10/100 switched ports with auto MDI/MDI-X crossover detection.
SD208	This newly-redesigned Linksys 8 Port 10/100 Switch can significantly increase your network traffic's speed. It has eight autosensing 10/100 switched ports with auto MDI/MDI-X crossover detection.
SD216	This newly-redesigned Linksys 16 Port 10/100 Switch can significantly increase your network traffic's speed. It has sixteen autosensing 10/100 switched ports with auto MDI/MDI-X crossover detection.
EGO801W	With the EtherFast®10/100/1000 8+1 Workgroup Gigabit Switch, you can connect your existing 10/100 Ethernet network to your Gigabit server backbone without purchasing costly Gigabit adapters for each workstation.

Cisco Switches
Product Series	Description
Catalyst 2820	Designed for aggregating hubs or servers. Has 100 Mbps Ethernet ports plus two slots for high speed modules corresponding to Fast Ethernet, FDDI or ATM. Not stackable.
Catalyst 2900 Series	Three models with 12 - 48 ports for Ethernet 10Mbps/100Mbps autosensing. Not stackable.
Catalyst 2900XL Series	24 ports and two module slots for 10BaseT/100BaseTX, 1000BaseX, 1000BaseT, Gigabit Ethernet and ATM modules. Not stackable.
Catalyst 2900XL LRE Series	Two different models with either 12 or 24 ports delivering LRE - Long Range4 Ethernet across existing telephone lines up to 5000 feet.
Catalyst 2940 Series	Two models with 8 ports for 10/100 Ethernet. The 2940-8TF model includes Gigabit Ethernet capabilities.
Catalyst 2950 Series	14 different models offering between 12 and 48 ports of 10/100 Ethernet. Most models also offer two ports for Gigabit Ethernet uplinks. This series offers intelligent functionality including security services and QoS.
Catalyst 2970 Series	Two models with 24 ports for Gigabit Ethernet. The 2970-24TS model also offers four small form pluggable SFP ports.
Catalyst 3500XL Series	One model with 24 10/100BaseT Ethernet ports and 2 Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports. One model with 8 Gigabit Ethernet ports. Stackable up to 9 units and run a switch fabric up to 10Gbps. This series is being positioned as the premier solution for low end Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.
Catalyst 3550 Series	Nine models offering stackable, multilayer Ethernet capabilities. 24 or 48 ports for 10/100 Ethernet and 2 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks.
Catalyst 3750 Series	Four models offering stackable Ethernet capabilities. 24 or 48 ports for 10/100 Ethernet. One model offers 12 Gigabit Ethernet ports. These switches utilize StackWise technology which allow stacking with nine other 3750 switches.
Catalyst 4000 Series	Three models with three slot modular chassis supporting 10/100/1000 Ethernet. One module has 48 10/100 ports and another has 32 10/100 ports with a variety of Gigabit Ethernet uplink options. The third model offers 40 ports of 10/100 Ethernet and two ports of 1000BaseX Gigabit Ethernet. Not stackable.
Catalyst 4500 Series	One model with 40 10/100 ports and two 1000BaseX Gigabit Ethernet ports. Optimized for server farms. Includes QoS and load balancing features.
Catalyst 5000/5500 Series	High Performance switching coupled with NetFlow switching for layer-3 routing. The series supports Gigabit Ethernet and ATM. Using additional interface module options include 10/100 Ethernet, Fast EtherChannel, fiber Fast Ethernet, Token Ring and CDDI/FDDI.
Catalyst 6500 Series	Five models with 3 to 13 slots. These switches can be customized by adding particular modules including Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit, voice and ATM.
Catalyst 8500 Series	Four models with 5 to 13 slots supporting multiservice ATM switching, optimized for aggregating multiprotocol traffic. Cisco's choice for ATM backbone switches. Not stackable.

3Com Workgroup Superstack 3 Switches
Product Series	Description
Overview	3Com® workgroup and desktop switches offer a wide range of practical Ethernet switching solutions for enterprise sites and small businesses. These versatile, reliable switches deliver performance and control where it's needed, while ensuring low total cost of ownership.
Superstack 3 4900 Family	Managed Layer 2/3/4 Gigabit switching. Fixed configuration. Ideal for enterprise server farm and workgroup aggregation, with stackable scalability and the added resiliency of XRN™ technology which lets these switches create highly available, high-performance, multilayer Gigabit Ethernet backbones.
3800 Family	The 3Com® SuperStack® 3 Switch 3800 Family are Gigabit Ethernet managed switches for workgroup "Gigabit to the desktop" deployments. They have models with from 12 to 48 ports with autosensing for 10/100/1000 Ethernet.
4400 Family	Managed Layer 2/4 10/100 switching. Fixed configuration. Ideal for enterprise workgroup applications needing high resiliency, traffic shaping/classification, security; Power over Ethernet and FX versions available.
3200 Family	Layer 3 10/100 switches with dynamic routing (RIP) for easy installation and maintenance. Optimized for workgroup deployment. Enhanced security with 802.1X and Access Control Lists. Units are available in 26 and 50 port models, each with 2 dual-personality (10/100/1000 or SFP-based fiber) Gigabit connections.
4200 Family	Affordable, high-performance, wirespeed Layer 2 10/100 Ethernet switching over copper with exceptional reliability for the workgroup or wiring closet. Systems offer 26, 28 or 50 port densities, built-in stacking, and Gigabit Ethernet and GBIC ports.

3Com Core Switches
Product Series	Description
Overview	Versatile, resilient Gigabit and Fast Ethernet switching with multilayer capabilities for core switching and edge switch aggregation.
7700 Family	Managed Layer 2/3/4 Gigabit and Fast Ethernet Switching. Modular chassis configuration. Ideal for campus and building switching in the core, and for workgroup aggregation.
40x0 Family	Managed Layer 2/3/4 Gigabit Switching. Fixed configuration. Ideal for building switching in the core, and for workgroup aggregation. With scalability and high resiliency features including XRN™ technology.