Netgear announced the ProSafe 28-port 10-Gigabit Smart Managed Switch (XS728T), a 28-port (24 copper, 4 SFP+) switch designed for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with 10GBASE-T connectivity and Advanced L2+/Layer 3 Lite features.
The appliance is designed to help alleviate performance bottlenecks and enable smoother deployment of services on the same converged platform, despite unpredictable bandwidth demands relating to new technologies such as virtualization, cloud-based services, and applications like VoIP, video streaming and IP surveillance.
Netgear offer two models of 10GBASE-T switches with different port density options, as the new XS728T joins the existing ProSAFE 12-port 10-Gigabit XS712T switch.
The new switch carries a suggested price of $4,624 and is currently available worldwide through authorized Netgear partners and other reseller channels.
“Many businesses of small business size have generalists supporting their network, whether they are internal IT staff or resellers offering IT services. The ability to configure and support a product without needed extensive training is a significant advantage,” Bradley Verona, senior product line manager for volume switches in Netgear’s commercial business unit, told eWEEK.
He also noted customer support is always important as companies big and small rely on their networks to run their businesses. He added that if there is an issue, knowing that a knowledgeable technician is available 24x7x365 is a big comfort.
The switch includes advanced virtual local area network (VLAN) features such as Protocol-based VLAN, MAC-based VLAN and 802.1x Guest VLAN, as well as advanced QoS (Quality of Service) with L2/L3/L4 awareness and 8 priority queues including Q-in-Q.
In addition, the appliance offers a user-friendly Web-based management graphical user interface (GUI) or PC-based Smart Control Center application for multi-switch deployment, and is backed by a lifetime hardware warranty.
“The cost of 10GE switches and servers have been coming down,” Verona noted. “This new switch sets a price point to bring high-speed networking to companies that previously could not afford such bandwidth.”
The company offers a complete portfolio of 10-Gigabit switch solutions, spanning small server clusters to network aggregation, and from workgroup labs to network backbones.
“Stresses on the IP network continue to increase due to both new technologies shifting to Ethernet–video, video conferencing, lighting, building control–as well as the increasing load that more traditional devices are putting on the network due to advances in wireless technologies like 802.11ac and 802.11ad, more gigabit to the desktop deployments, and high powered virtualized servers,” Verona said.