Dell Looks For Networking Power With The PowerConnect 5224 – THG.RU

Introduction

Dell is not a company name normally associated with networking products, but this may change with Dell’s new offering of edge connectivity products. Dell plans to offer products that are within the current “sweet spot” of networking products, which are high-density fixed port layer 2, managed and unmanaged switches, as well as fixed port Gigabit Ethernet products. Dell is positioning these offerings as high performance, feature rich and affordable solutions that are targeted to medium to large sized businesses.

Dell realizes that this is a difficult market, currently dominated by companies such as Cisco, 3Com, Nortel and others. These offerings are a good fit with Dell’s server, NAS, SAN, and other computer offerings. While Dell does indicate that they might tackle other networking areas at a later time, at least for now they are staying with edge connectivity. Dell’s philosophy behind its networking products is to build reliable networking solutions that conform to current standards. Dell is not trying to rewrite the networking standards, but seeks to provide solutions that work within the scope of these current standards.

Dell has been refining and improving its networking products. A clear indication of this is that the majority of Dell’s networking products are second-generation offerings. While many might not consider Dell as a potential networking supplier, it is a natural fit for IT shops that are already using Dell products. Dell tells us that they have translated their ‘ease of use and performance-oriented heritage’ to their networking products division, as well. The only question that remains is how well did they do?

Introducing the PowerConnect 5224

The Dell PowerConnect 5224 is Dell’s top-of-the-line Gigabit Ethernet Managed Switch. The 5224 is a 10/100/1000BASE-T auto-sensing Gigabit Ethernet Switch that offers 24 ports. Four 10/100/1000BASE-T ports operate in combination with four Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) transceiver slots. The 5224 is comparable with these other types of products, with which you might be more familiar: 3Com’s SuperStack 4300 family, Cisco’s Catalyst 2950G Series and Foundry Network’s FastIron 4802 Series. The PowerConnect 5224 is also available in a 48-port version, which Dell brands as its 3248 Series. As you can see from the companies that currently occupy this market space mentioned above, Dell faces a tough challenge in breaking into IT shops that are already deeply entrenched and using 3 Com, Cisco and Foundry networks, or other such products from well-known vendors.

A look at the Dell PowerConnect 5224 from the back.

The 5224 is packed and shipped in a nondescript brown box that offers sufficient packing on both ends and the middle to protect it in transit. Our unit arrived from Dell with no damage, which speaks well for Dell’s packaging of such an expensive product, which retails beginning at $2,199 US. We have previously seen instances where a valuable product such as this one is not well packed and is damaged in transit. Since the customer is spending this amount of money on a switching product, it makes sense that Dell would want to guarantee no damage during shipment, and Dell has done an excellent job of this. Inside the box, there is not much to see. Included are the user’s guide, the PowerConnect user documentation on CD-Rom, the Null modem/ serial cable and a standard power cable. In addition, Dell provides the 1U rack mounting hardware for making the unit rack mountable. Beyond that, the only other item included is the switch, which uses a standard metalized housing that weighs a mere 9 1/2 pounds.

A close-up look at the front panel status indicator lights on the PowerConnect 5224.

Introducing the PowerConnect 5224, Continued

Dell, following through on its mission to make this switch accessible to small office as well as enterprise level environments, has gone to great lengths to make the included documentation (available in both hard copy and CD format) very user friendly, so that the 5224 can be installed and running in a short time. This is very important to Dell, as clearly one of their hurdles with a product of this type is to make it accessible to IT professionals as well as small office users who may lack training and expertise with these kinds of products. The 5224 user’s manual seems to be written with this goal in mind, as we found the manual to be exceptionally well written for both a basic and an advanced level of expertise. The manual does not pretend to teach networking; however, it offers an excellent number of illustrations, graphs and screen shots, which are targeted at providing sufficient information to help users of varying experience levels get the most from this product. We commend Dell for this excellent user’s manual.

A close-up look at the 24 10/100/1000BASE-T ports that make up the PowerConnect 5224.

The front of the 5224 includes 24 10/100/1000BASE-T ports, which are located on the left hand side of the switch. Four SFP transceiver slots are located in the middle of the switch. The right hand of the switch includes the Power LED, RPS LED, DIAG LED, Console Port and two rows of LEDs indicating the operating status of each of the 24 ports. The back of the 5224 contains three fans to help keep the unit cool, as well as the RPS connector and the AC power receptacle. The RPS connector allows a connection to an optional RPS to switch onto, should the internal power supply within the switch fail. The back of the switch does not contain anything else, so it is rather basic. Dell has gone out of its way to ensure that everything needed for both indicators, Display and Input/ output, is included with the switch. It is apparent that Dell has studied the offerings of its competition prior to designing the 5224, and this has contributed to a very usable design.

A look at the accessories that are included with the PowerConnect 5224.

Specification Table For The Dell PowerConnect 5224

Installing the 5224 PowerConnect

Before connecting the 5224 switch to your network, you will need to plug the switch in and then connect to the switch using the supplied serial console cable and terminal emulation software to set the IP address and password for the switch. The 5224 is supplied with rubber feet for placing it on a flat surface and mounting brackets to mount the switch in a rack. It is important to provide proper ventilation around the 5224, which, according to Dell, is two inches on either side and at least five inches at the back for the power cable.

The 5224 requires the serial port and terminal emulation software to be set to a data rate of 9600 baud with 8 data bits, 1 stop bit and no parity. The flow control should be set to “none” and VT100 Terminal Emulation should be selected. Select terminal keys indicating Function, Arrow and Control keys ensure that you select terminal keys that are not Windows keys. When using the version of HyperTerminal that comes with Windows 2000, it is important to have Service Pack 2 or later installed, as Service Pack 2 allows you to use the Arrow keys in HyperTerminal’s VT100 Emulation mode. Once you are connected to the console port of the switch and the switch completes its boot sequence, you will need to log in to the switch. After the CLI (Command Line Interface) prompt is established, you must then enter a password, which is covered in depth in the 5224 user’s manual. Next, you must assign an IP address to gain management access over the network. You also may need to establish a default gateway between the gateway and any management stations that exist on another network segment. You can statically configure the IP address or direct the switch to obtain its address from BOOTP or DHCP when the switch is powered on. Deciding whether to configure the 5224 for Static or BOOTP or DHCP will depend on the configuration of your network. Many network administrators favor using a static IP address for the configuration of a managed switch device such as this. Obviously, using a static IP address for the 5224 will allow you to always know on which IP address the 5224 is located, and this will certainly help gain access to the Web-based interface.

The CLI that is included with the 5224 uses a command format that most Cisco users will find very familiar.

The 5224’s Web-Based Interface – The Real Star of the Show

Using a CLI to configure networking products has been the standard method used by most network administrators. With the advent of more user-friendly networking products, this level of ease of use has become available to products within the enterprise realm. The 5224 features a robust Web-based interface that is the real sparkle behind the 5224. This Web-based interface allows you to configure switch, ports, address table, spanning tree, VLAN, link aggregation, SNMP, multicast support and retrieve statistics. The 5224 uses a mix of both graphics and text to allow you to configure, as well as view the status of, the switch itself.

The Web-based interface uses a left handed tree-based system that allows you to view and modify each of the components that are listed on the left hand side. By expanding each of these menu options, you are then presented with additional information, which is both helpful and necessary to configure the switch. While old timers may prefer the Cisco-type CLI that the 5224 offers, less experienced administrators may opt for the Web-based interface, since it is very easy to use.

The default menu screen from the Web interface of the PowerConnect 5224. Notice how the port is lit green when a device is connected to it.

The Web-based interface included with the 5224 demonstrates that Dell has gone to great effort to polish this interface and make it easy to use for the beginner, yet robust enough for the expert, to successfully manage the switch anywhere within an enterprise. This interface supports Dell’s targeted philosophy of not requiring a highly trained network administrator to administer the functions of the 5224. In many cases, in a small office or IT shop, the need for a switch that is as robust as the 5224 might be limited to one unit within the company’s small data center/ server center to provide high-speed backbone services for a limited number of systems. In this particular scenario, it might be the only 5224 in use within the company. If this is the case, obviously the IT staff will not regularly interface with this product, so it is important that this product offers an easy learning curve, such as the one offered by this Web interface. The ease of administering the 5224 is a design goal that Dell should be commended for meeting.

A screen shot from the CoS section of the 5224’s Web interface. Setting up CoS with the Web interface on the 5224 is pretty easy.

The 5224’s Web-Based Interface – The Real Star of the Show, Continued

We found the Web-based interface of the 5224 to be exceptional, and it definitely helps put the 5224 in a class by itself. In looking at the Web-based interface, some features that stand out are the graphic representations that Dell uses within the interface to present the status and/ or parameters of the switch. For example, in the statistics area, Dell is able to present the user with graphical statistics indicating the requested statistical data. This makes it easier for a novice to obtain information about the 5224’s performance, rather than just lists of numbers that do not indicate the same type of feedback that the user gets visually.

A look at the asset configuration screen from the 5224’s Web interface.

Another area where the Web interface excels is the ability to help the user configure Class of Service (CoS). CoS allows the user to assign priority to data packets when traffic in the switch is buffered due to congestion. The 5224 supports CoS using four priority queues for each port. Data packets in the port’s highest priority queues will be transmitted before packets in the lower priority queues. The 5224 does support 802.1p tags that specify eight levels of priority from zero (the lowest) to seven (the highest). IP precedents, or IP DSCP values, are mapped to these priority tag levels and the priority tag levels are mapped directly to the 5224 for traffic class queues. What is unique is the way these CoS are easily and quickly defined using the 5224’s Web-based interface. Many system administrators have not implemented 802.1p because of its difficulty in configuration and setup. Dell seems to have done a good job in helping administrators easily implement 802.1p with this Web interface.

Dell has also successfully translated the ease of use and configuration of the Web-based interface of the 5224 to its configuration of VLANs, using the 802.1q compliant VLANs and GARP VLANs protocol (GVRP). For those not familiar with VLANs, VLANs allow you to organize any group of network nodes into separate broadcast domains, confining broadcast and multicast traffic to the originating group. This can provide a more secure and cleaner network environment. Again, the 5224’s Web-based interface does a very good job in assisting the configuration of a difficult feature for network administrators.

As you can tell, we really were impressed with Dell’s Web interface for the 5224. Dell has done its homework in the development of the Web interface. While Dell has not broken new ground in its development, as we have seen such things on other products, Dell’s implementation of the Web Interface of the 5224 is commendable, nonetheless.

What Level of Performance Can I Expect from the 5224?

The 5224’s crown jewel is its Gigabit Ethernet support. While some may question the real world application and use of the Gigabit Ethernet standard, switching to a Gigabit Ethernet backbone can provide much needed performance for server-to-server communication, as well as for applications such as high-speed backups using the Gigabit Ethernet standard.

Gigabit Ethernet is even beginning to rear its head on desktop PCs, as well. Although the cost of a switch such as the 5224 with Gigabit Ethernet support is still high, the price for Gigabit Ethernet NICs continues to tumble. We have even seen Gigabit Ethernet NICs being incorporated into some of the latest motherboard offerings from a variety of vendors. The port price of Gigabit Ethernet switches will continue to drop, thus making this an even more attractive standard going forward.

The maximum switching capacity across 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports is 48 Gbps, while the maximum forwarding rate is 35.6 Mpps. The optional 1000SX and 1000LX optical Gigabit Ethernet transceivers are SFP designs that support distances of between 220 meters and 5 kilometers, depending on the type of fiber media used. With numbers such as these, it is obvious that the 5224 can provide a robust solution, whether in the data center or in the wiring closet. It should be pointed out, however, that, depending on the current wiring configuration within your enterprise, Gigabit over copper Ethernet may or may not work. Some lower grade Cat 5 cabling may not be sufficient to obtain Gigabit over copper speeds.

The 5224 would not be useful if it didn’t provide a full set of switch management tools. The 5224 provides SNMP support with a comprehensive management information base (MIB), as well as four RMON groups. This broad management support allows you to tie into a variety of third-party network management applications and/ or utilities. The 5224 also includes radius support, which enables centralized remote authentication of administrative access to the switch. In addition, the 5224 can store a dual configuration and firmware images while supporting the upload and download of configuration and firmware files to a server.

During our brief testing of the 5224 in the lab, we found the 5224’s performance to be good and its manageability to be excellent. The 5224 was able to perform at exceptional speeds during the many routine tests that we put the switch through. We encountered no problems or difficulties with the 5224 during our review process. As this was one of our first experiences with a Gigabit Ethernet switch, we unfortunately had no other Gigabit Ethenet switches with which to compare the 5224 in a head-on test. That said, the 5224 in Gigabit Ethernet mode offers blazing speed that is incredible when compared to conventionally switched 100BASE-T networks.

Conclusion: Dell’s Networking Business Appears to be Headed in the Right Direction

From our discussions with Dell, it is clear that Dell is committed to the networking business. Dell told us that they are already looking at future firmware upgrades for the 3248 and the 5224 platforms that might include such options as rapid spanning tree 802.1w, Port-based security, SNMPv3 and encryption of management access. These firmware upgrades for Dell’s networking products will most likely be offered at no charge to current power connect owners.

While Dell might not be the first name that you consider for your networking equipment provider, if you are already an IT shop that is using Dell products, using Dell’s networking products might provide a good match. Dell is offering server products, NAS products, SAN products, and now networking products. The addition of these networking products is a natural extension of Dell’s ability to provide a complete solution for its customers. Dell isn’t necessarily breaking new ground with the products that they are releasing; instead, they are taking well known and ratified standards and finding ways to enhance these products and to market them at a lower cost. One way Dell is achieving this lower cost is through its partnership with Broadcom, which supplies much of the Gigabit Ethernet switching technology that is on the hardware side of these products. Dell is using its networking group to design and specify the components that are used in these products. However, as with many network product manufacturers, these products are built overseas to help the company compete at a better price point.

In our review of the 5224, we think that the most important thing for a potential customer to consider is the high performance, fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet Edge Connectivity for clients and servers. The 5224 strikes an excellent balance among price, performance and features that will definitely hit the mark for many IT shops looking for a good, solid solution. We think that Dell is headed in the right direction with the development of these network offerings, and we can’t wait to see what Dell will offer next.