Cisco Catalyst 3750-PoE Review

The ubiquitous networking wiring closet; each floor in your office space probably has one populated by patch panels, networking cables and perhaps a few Cisco Catalyst 3750, the expandable, stackable 24-port network switch from Cisco designed for the medium-sized business environment.  In fact each of our 11 network closet contain at least (6) Catalyst 3750 switches that communicate with the rest of the network at the standard 1000BaseX or Gigabit Ethernet via fiber optic cabling. 

We currently house our servers in an industry standard Network Operations Center (NOC), or data center.  The entire networking infrastructure is in the NOC; however there is a need to connect the various regions of our 11 story building directly to our servers; that is where our large contingent Cisco Catalyst 3750-PoE Series (24)-port switches comes into play.    

The Catalyst 3750 Network Switch

The Catalyst 3750 is a small foot-print, 24-port, rack-mountable (1U) dynamic-configuration Layer 2 or Layer 3 Ethernet switch that provides high-performance, high bandwidth switching between workstations, servers, switches (network backbone), and routers.  The particular Catalyst 3750 switches we use, the PoE (Power-over-Ethernet) series, are equipped with 24 (48-port models are also available) auto-sensing switched 10BASE-T/100BASE-T/1000BASE-T ports, with full auto-negotiating capability on all ports; i.e. the switch automatically selects half- or full-duplex transmission mode to optimize bandwidth.

The Catalyst 3750 and 3750G can support 24 simultaneous full-powered PoE ports at 15.4 watts (W) for maximum powered device support. The 48-port versions can deliver the necessary power to support 24 ports at 15.4W, 48 ports at 7.7W, or any combination in between.

Note: Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) or "Active Ethernet" eliminates the need to run 110/220 VAC power to Wireless Access Points and other devices on a wired LAN such as IP Phones. Utilizing PoE system installers need to run only a single CAT5 Ethernet cable that carries both power and data to each device. This allows greater flexibility in the locating of Wireless Access Points AP's and network devices and significantly decreasing installation costs in many cases.

Power-over-Ethernet begins with a CAT5 "Injector" that inserts a DC Voltage onto the CAT5 cable. The Injector is typically installed in the "wiring closet" near the Ethernet switch or hub.  We use our complement of some 100 Catalyst 3750-PoE switches to power and connect our installed base of IP Phones.

My Viewpoint

Although the Catalyst 3750 could very well sit on my desk, all of our production switches are rack-mounted.  Preparing the switch to communicate with our network took less then ten minute to accomplish; in addition to configuring the ports, I can also assign the switch an IP Address, as well supervisor ID and password for attaching locally or remotely. 

Our complement of switches is spread throughout the organization and form the backbone of our dispersed network.  The switches which have been in place almost three years provide connectivity for desktops, servers, printers, and IP Phones.

Like the larger Catalyst switches in our network, the Catalyst 3750's run 24/7/365.  These little switches work and work well.  Packet throughput is well within tolerance and actual packet collisions, as on all Cisco enterprise class switches, are rare. 

Concluding Viewpoint

Compared to the Catalyst 4000 and 6000 Series switches, the Catalyst 3750 is relatively inexpensive; a new unit can cost as little as $1,999 or as much as $5000.00, depending on functionality and port configuration.  Not too bad a price considering the level of functionality you can expect from the switch; and the GBIC uplink ports are integrated into the unit.    

If you need a diminutive, but reliable, network switch for a small, medium, or large sized corporate environments the Cisco Catalyst 3750, with or without PoE might be the solution you have been looking for.