OT: Does a low-cost, reliable switch exist?

[Norberto Meijome]

On Sat, 14 Jul 2007 20:42:09 -0600
Modulok <modulok at gmail.com> wrote:

> Currently I'm using 3 Netgear GS108 Gigabit blue-box switches chained
> together for local traffic, with a FreeBSD server acting as the gateway to
> the outside world, running ipfw and natd. The switches eventually lock up.

I've given up on netgear for any new purchases...is still have a stack of
them,but wouldnt use them for anything critical.

> Sometimes they work for a day, a week, even a month without problems. Then
> at a random time of day or night, boom network goes down. It's not any
> individual defective switch as I've tried re-ordering them several times as
> well as testing them individually. The cables are all good and wired
> correctly. I've pulled my hair out trying to find what's wrong. I'm not sure
> I care anymore. I just need something stable enough that I can catch some
> sleep without this re-occurring nightmare.

Are the switches behind a UPS? 

I've found power spikes / brown-outs break absolute havoc with dumb switches.
they are back up, but in a zombie state. u need to power them down for a few
minutes (completelly unplugged from mains) for them to come back to life
properly.

> Is there hope? Thoughts? Suggestions?

add a simple timer to the power socket where the switch is plugged in and reset
them automatically every 24 hours or so ? If your network so critical that it
wouldn't support a daily  scheduled minor outage , then you should spend the $
in cisco, HP , 3com (i'd heard people swear by 3com...not sure if the old ones or current ones though..grep the archives), etc.

for a few ports (router), you could always build your own or buy one of the
small factor Soekris with freebsd in it, but i doubt you'll get more than 4
ports in one.

let us know what you come up with :)

B
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{Beto|Norberto|Numard} Meijome

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