Checklist: How to buy a switch

Buying the right switch for your networked storage infrastructure can be a challenge. What port count do you need, which vendor has the right product and what questions should you ask before buying a switch? This SearchStorage.com checklist is designed to help you pick the right switch for your organizational, budgetary and growth needs.

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About the author: Simon Gordon works for Nishan Systems. He has worked with storage area networking technology, particularly with Brocade-based SANs for over four years. Simon has been working in the IT industry 15 years in software development, systems integration, Unix and open systems, Microsoft infrastructure design and most recently storage area networking. Find out more about Simon at his Web site: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon_gordon.

Rate this Tip To rate tips, you must be a member of SearchStorage.com. Register now to start rating these tips. Log in if you are already a member. BROWSE BY TAG SAN (storage area network),   SAN management,   NAS (network attached storage),   NAS management,   SAN/NAS Update,   SAN/NAS Technical Tips,   Tips,   EMC,   SAN switch,   VIEW ALL TAGS Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us    RELATED CONTENT SAN management Storage Decisions Chicago 2009 Session Downloads Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Managing Storage Networks Track (Chicago 2009) Storage-area networks to become increasingly object based Data storage management in virtual server environments 10 Gb Ethernet bodes well for iSCSI Mellanox builds bridge to consolidation Best storage Products of the Year 2008 Wide stripe before you dive into SSD How your SAN will evolve New realities of green IT: STORAGE BIN 2.0 SAN management Research NAS management Storage Decisions Chicago 2009 Session Downloads Isilon expands with transactional and archive systems Digital Reef aims for data classification scalability EMC adds file-level single instancing, Flash to Celerra Scale-out NAS poised for growth How to determine a NAS system's scalability Top five NAS tips of 2008 Storage Decisions San Francisco 2008 Session Downloads Sun repackages open storage NAS products Attune file virtualization software reports on Windows NAS performance NAS management Research SAN/NAS Update Storage-area networks to become increasingly object based Reducing storage network complexity with FCoE Clustered storage essentials: What to ask your vendor The value of easy-to-use SAN storage SAN storage consolidation checklist Pros and cons of using NAS NFS with VMware A case for 8 GB Fibre Channel Wide stripe before you dive into SSD How to determine a NAS system's scalability Top five SAN tips of 2008 RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary Fast Guide to Storage Technologies  (WhatIs.com) fat provisioning  (SearchStorage.com) oversubscription  (SearchStorage.com) RAID  (SearchStorage.com) storage area management  (SearchStorage.com) storage area network  (SearchStorage.com) thin provisioning  (SearchStorage.com) unified storage  (SearchStorage.com) virtual provisioning  (SearchStorage.com) zoned-bit recording  (SearchStorage.com) RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary DISCLAIMER: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.