Choosing the Right Switch for Your Business

November 15, 2018 | Author: Joseph Felano

What are Switches?

For small businesses, lagging information might not be as apparent. Maybe your files are taking a little too long to attach to an email, or your tweet isn’t sending right away. These may seem inconsequential to a network’s overall performance, but when your Skype call with that big client you have been working towards drops, you might not be as forgiving.

In a network, a switch is the piece that ties it all together; switches connect all the other components of your network together and prioritize traffic, so you can efficiently send and receive information. When it comes to switches there are many different factors to help you decide which switch is right for your needs. Switches come in many sizes and styles, but the major categories are Unmanaged, Smart, and Managed.

Unmanaged Switches

Unmanaged switches are just that: Switches that do not need to be managed, configured, or worried about. An unmanaged switch, like the Cisco 100 Series, come configured out of the box and ready to operate. Sounds perfect, right? Well there are some downsides.

While they may be simple to install, and almost worry-free, these qualities are also the downfall of unmanaged switches. The ease of use out of the box means that there is no customization in the settings of these switches, they are essentially just a junction box. These switches are perfect for a small business with lite traffic (offices with 10 or fewer simultaneous users), that lack IT knowledge, and only require a method of passing data from one device to another.

Smart Switches

Plug and play doesn’t give you enough options? Maybe you are in the market for a Smart Switch like the Cisco 200 Series? Assign basic configurations like MAC address binding and rate limits, prioritization of critical traffic, divide your network into VLANS, or authenticate devices wishing to connect to your network using port-based or radius authentication, from a user friendly, web-based interface.

Managed Switches

So you need a little more features and control over your data flow do you? You want to be sure that your network is secure and functioning properly? You’re looking for a Managed Switch. Professional Networks often use this option, because it puts full control into the user’s hands.

A Managed Switch, such as something out of the Cisco 300 Series, lets you prioritize the traffic traveling across your network so that the most important information gets through first, you can also control who has access to your network. Managed switches use SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) to show you how well your network is running and if any of your devices are not working.

Managed switches also strive to improve your network’s performance by providing redundancy and VLAN (virtual LAN) capabilities.

Which option is right for you?

The answer to this question depends on a few simple factors:

• Do you have any IT knowledge?

• How much information is shared throughout your network?

• How much control do you need over your network?

Unmanaged switches are great for a small businesses that just want to connect and communicate over a few devices; that don’t need any complicated security or networking configurations. Just plus it in and go. For those who want a little bit more control, there are Smart Switches. While having less features than Managed switches, they do provide some security and customization, while remaining simple enough for an IT novice to configure. If it’s power, size, security, and features you need, than you’re going to want a Managed switch.