Dell Inc. is rolling out a family of Gigabit Ethernet switches that can be changed from unmanaged to Web-managed by pushing a button.
The PowerConnect 2700 series, aimed at SMBs (small and midsize businesses) will replace Dells current 2600 series, which is solely unmanaged.
“It will ship as unmanaged, so if thats all [the customer] wanted, theyre done,” said Larry Hart, senior PowerConnect manager for Dells Product Group. “But with the flip of a button, it can become Web-managed. … Weve addressed the customer need for our SMB customers.”
The capability enables users to scale their switch capabilities as their IT environment grows, Hart said.
As Web-managed switches, the 2700 series offers LAN and quality-of-service capabilities, he said. Dell also is keeping the price low, offering the new Layer 2 switches for as little as $16 a port, about the same as the Round Rock, Texas, company charged for the 2600 series.
The new PowerConnect switches come in three configurations—the 8-port 2708, 16-port 2716 and 24-port 2724.
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