Netgear released three new 10Gbase-T switches, the ProSAFE XS708T, XS716T and XS748T. We had an opportunity to discuss the switches with the company last week and have some insights on the three new switches. We will be reviewing at least some of the line-up over the coming months but wanted to add some insight we took away from the discussion. Last year we did a Netgear ProSAFE XS712T review, and these updated models should address many of our suggestions after that review. All of these switches feature a web management GUI as well as Netgear’s lifetime warranty. We were told that the 8-port and 16-port models both feature newer silicon which will lower power consumption and noise of the switches compared to the XS712T. We did ask, and can confirm that the XS712T is not going to be updated at this time.
Netgear ProSAFE XS708T
The 8-port model is the lowest end part in the lineup. We asked the company and the street pricing is expected to be around $950 or just under $120/ port. The switch will have 8 copper 10Gbase-T ports two of which are combo ports with 2 SFP+ alternatives. That means you can have 6, 7 or 8 10Gbase-T ports with 2, 1 or 0 SFP+ 10GbE ports respectively.
Overall, for those with small Intel Xeon D labs, we expect this to be a very popular switch.
Netgear ProSAFE XS716T
The 16-port model is the mid-range switch with expected street pricing in the $1600 range or around $100/ port. The switch will have 16 copper 10Gbase-T ports two of which are combo ports with 2 SFP+ alternatives. That means you can have 14, 15 or 16 10Gbase-T ports with 2, 1 or 0 SFP+ 10GbE ports respectively.
This switch is also expected to be a lower power and noise part compared to the XS712T.
Netgear ProSAFE XS748T
At the top end we have a 48 port model. The 48 port model will have 44 10Gbase-T ports and 4 dedicated SFP+ ports. Expected street pricing is about $5000.
At $5000 this is a very interesting switch if you do not need 40GbE uplinks.
Market trends with 10GbE in the SMB market
Netgear also shared some insights into SMB adoption of 10GbE, both in 10Gbase-T and 10Gb SFP+ flavors. I did share that I thought STH readers probably had a higher percentage of 10Gb capable switches (defined as at least one 10Gbase-T port) than their data showed. We do have a lot of STH readers that provide services to the SMB market, so I did want to share some of the market data. To me, the headline was that 10Gb adoption is expected to double in the next two years.
This data is almost a year old, but the expectation from Netgear is that switches like the XS708T and XS716T using newer silicon will enable more 10Gb Ethernet growth (in addition to Nbase-T.)
Overall, we see this as an exciting development and an opportunity for those managed service providers that read STH to start pursuing 10Gb upgrades at their customers. For home users, the new switches should provide lower environmental impacts such as noise and power consumption that make 10Gbase-T more palatable.
Final Words
We are extremely excited about these new switches. We first heard rumblings of the switches at Netgear’s headquarters several months ago. We are excited, especially on the lower-end with the Netgear ProSAFE XS708T and XS716T to see if these are the first 10Gbase-T switches that can be used in inhabited office space or homes. Stay tuned for STH’s future reviews of these switches.
There is an interesting line of PoE switches SS3300 from Netgear.
They have 4 10GbE ports: two copper and two optical for uplink/servers connections/aggregation.
I got S3300-28X-PoE+ for my home last year February.