[rescue] Looking for a new Switch, what should I pick up?

[James]

> I'm wanting a new, enterprise-grade switch for my house to replace the
> little measly D-Link I have upstairs currently. I'd like it to be a
> hoss, though, and support expansion in a rack-mountable form-factor.
> I'd also like for it to support several media types via pluggable
> expansion modules. Something like the higher end Cisco Catalyst series.
> Also, it should be affordable to a College student. :) Oh, and 100BT is
> ok, but I'd like to also be able to add 100FX and 1000 on Copper as
> well, even if to only a couple of ports.

Well, a Cat5000 will do nicely and they are pretty damn cheap now ($100 -
$500 will set you up nicely). It won't do gig though. This will introduce
you to their high-end CatOS too, rather than IOS. I have a Cat5005 that a
previous employer tossed my way for free cause their resale value wasn't
worth the bother for them.

For Gig, look at 5500's. a few hundred or thousand more, but nicer.

For real nice with modern layer3 switching, look at a 6500, but look at
$10K+.