Question How to Test switches from various manufacturers to find out which is the best switch

[shaw22]

Greetings:
Question 1:
I have to deploy 19 L2 switches and 2 L3 switch. Need help in picking the right switch. I am going to use SNMP and Sflow with Solarwinds or Auvik.com network management software to manage these switches. So it comes down to the hardware performance of the switch.
I have the three switch models from the manufacturers on trial - need to figure out how to test them. Is there a step by step document to conduct this test ?

Question 2:
Switch model 1 - showing switching capacity, forwarding rate and stacking bandwidth in duplex where as other switch manufacturers does not mention duplex. Is switch manufacturer 1 inflating the forwarding rate and stack bandwidth?

See switch details here

https://imgur.com/et9J7oQ

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well, for one thing, it certainly doesn't look like Model 1 has line speed capability for all it's ports and is instead using some kind of shared backplane/bus. Model 3 seems like it does have a line speed ASIC for all it's ports (at least given the breakdown of the stacking bandwidth capability). That alone is usually enough for me to decide which I would prefer to use (i.e. the one with full capability to all ports over one that I need to run an analysis against it's current usage to determine if the next system I connect will still allow it to get full bandwidth). I don't want to have to remember 1-3 years down the line that on this model switch I need to double-check that there is free bandwidth to connect to an empty port in it....

 

[shaw22]

Thanks @Fallen Kell
Was your comment for L3 switch or L2 switch or for both.
I am expecting the three switches thursday. How can I test them?

 

[Fallen Kell]

Sorry, I thought I mentioned that I was talking about the L3 switches model 1 and model 3 in my above comment. As for testing, it is difficult without a lot of specialized gear. You would need something like a Spirent TestCenter and a Ixia Traffic Generator.

 

[shaw22]

Thanks Fallen Kell, let me check out spirent testcenter and Ixia traffic generator

 

[jargatech]

Run iperf on it. Would need a computer running as the iperf server and another running as the client both connected to the switch. If you have more Ethernet ports you can run the another iperf server and client and run them simultaneously.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Run iperf on it. Would need a computer running as the iperf server and another running as the client both connected to the switch. If you have more Ethernet ports you can run the another iperf server and client and run them simultaneously.

Iperf will only get you the basic max throughput value. When really testing switches, especially L3 switches, you need to see how it is handling routing to different VLANs/subnets/virtual interfaces, how quickly the access control lists are processing, how well quality of service settings are working, etc... All those things can not be done without using something that can connect to lots of ports on the switch and using repeatable network traffic (hence the test centers and traffic generator).

 

[shaw22]

Thanks Fallen Kell and Jargatech.
I reach out to https://www.apposite-tech.com/
to see if they have a testing service.
They don't have a service but sell their appliance for testing - 1Gbps is $50,000 and for testing 10Gbps is $60,000 licensed annually.
I guess, I will just have to trust the specs put out by the manufacturer
Thanks!