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We are looking for how we can have a more reliable, simpler network. How can we keep out administrative burden low, and work smarter not harder when it comes to our infrastructure?

Background: We are a tech company and pride ourselves on being agile and lean. We are taking a step back to evaluate potential problem areas before they become problems. The network administration role has passed through a few hands We have a mix of Netgear and cisco switches 1 gb fiber internet connection pfsense firewall 10 gbps network for servers 10 gbps network for some clients (creative) vlans

We had one of our core switches (netgear fiber stack) fail and it took a while to troubleshoot it because problems were intermittent.

The vision: everything is simplified as much as possible with easy data/troubleshooting so diagnosing a problem is easy and reliability and ease of administration is maximized. If we could have everything in one pane, it would be nice.

I have a new consultant who has recommended changing out our client switches to Cisco catalyst. The switches he wants to replace are older Cisco SG500 switches, with 2 being POE and 2 non-POE.

What we have: 2 Cisco SGE2010 for workstations 1 Cisco SGE500 POE for phones 1 Cisco SFE2010P POE for cameras 1 Netgear M5300 for trunks to client switches and for WAPs, PBX, etc 1 Netgear M7100 for 10 gbe clients and servers 2x Netgear M7300 (stack) 10 gbe for vlan routing 2x pfSense firewalls

Network Map

Basically I'm looking for an outside opinion. So far, the cisco switches have been working just fine. Do I proactively change them? Should I buy more Netgears and make a stack? Bang for the buck, it seems like Netgear is the way to go. What am I giving up by staying with Netgear? Or do I just leave the current switches with a spare on hand in case one goes I just change it out? The consultant is saying the Cisco switches have more reporting ability to integrate into 3rd party monitoring tools.

Will
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  • You should reword your question(s) so it's less of an opinion request and more of a comparison request, because based on your question, the answer depends on how much money you're willing to spend vs the quality of service you get from the equipment. – CIA Jan 06 '16 at 20:10

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He is absolutely correct. Netgear switches are crummy and cheap with low manageability and tiny packet buffers. You're trading capex for opex.

Cisco SMB switches are essentially a small step up from Linksys.

Catalyst are pricier, but if you want your network to work and be manageable you need something in that class. For a tech company, a network is essential.

no netgear!

MikeyB
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    Agreed. Netgears are a sack of crap. I wasted a good couple of weeks last year trying to get Netgears to behave. The cost of my time to the business would have paid for some decent switches. – Tom O'Connor Jan 10 '16 at 13:27