5 ms·

Thanks for the tip. I did consider Ebay, but at that point, I figured it was more trouble than it's worth if I bought them used. Ebay doesn't exactly have the b

Thanks for the tip. I did consider Ebay, but at that point, I figured it was more trouble than it's worth if I bought them used. Ebay doesn't exactly have the best reputation.

justinclift 6y ago
Ahhh. I guess it depends on what you're looking for. Mellanox cards and related cabling is generally still pretty good (in UK and Australia anyway). A few years ago I obtained a few 24 port HP Procurve switches (3400cl-24G), with 10GbE (CX4 connectors) on the back. Those worked pretty well, though turned out to be slightly too noisy for use as desktop switches. ;) Taking a quick look on US Ebay now, something like this (US$39) might have been workable: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-J9145A-ProCurve-2910al-24G-Ethernet-Switch/114290990219 https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-J9145A-ProCurve-2910al-24G-Ether... I don't know that seller at all, but ex-enterprise HP Procurve gear should generally be pretty safe. From reputable vendors anyway. :) For Singapore, I'm not sure. Might have needed to get something from the US shipped over. This one seems like it'd be ~US$80 including shipping, which was probably too much: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ProCurve-Switch-1800-24G-switch-24-ports/233622141076 https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ProCurve-Switch-1800-24G-switch-...
- ryall 6y ago
  To help with the noise try replacing the fans with high quality ones. I threw some nocturnas into an old managed dell switch and it quieted down immensely. Just be aware that sometimes they change the pins around from the standard pinout, I blew out one of the fans before discovering this. Fan still works, just lost the rpm monitoring :(
  - numpad0 6y ago
    Server fans are not cheap, they’re smaller and faster. Look at current and CFM rating. They might look insane from DIY market figures.
  - justinclift 6y ago
    Thanks, very much agree. I took a naive approach to it before having any clue about electronics, just replacing one of the (3) internal fans with a quieter one of the same voltage. Mostly to see if that would work. While it functioned, the "fan warning" light was then permanently on (with the replacement fan in). If I still had the gear and were to do it again, I'd investigate properly and figure out a real solution. :)

Thanks for the tip. I did consider Ebay, but at that point, I figured it was more trouble than it's worth if I bought them used. Ebay doesn't exactly have the best reputation.

justinclift 6y ago

Ahhh. I guess it depends on what you're looking for. Mellanox cards and related cabling is generally still pretty good (in UK and Australia anyway). A few years ago I obtained a few 24 port HP Procurve switches (3400cl-24G), with 10GbE (CX4 connectors) on the back. Those worked pretty well, though turned out to be slightly too noisy for use as desktop switches. ;) Taking a quick look on US Ebay now, something like this (US$39) might have been workable: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-J9145A-ProCurve-2910al-24G-Ethernet-Switch/114290990219 https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-J9145A-ProCurve-2910al-24G-Ether... I don't know that seller at all, but ex-enterprise HP Procurve gear should generally be pretty safe. From reputable vendors anyway. :) For Singapore, I'm not sure. Might have needed to get something from the US shipped over. This one seems like it'd be ~US$80 including shipping, which was probably too much: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ProCurve-Switch-1800-24G-switch-24-ports/233622141076 https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ProCurve-Switch-1800-24G-switch-...

ryall 6y ago
To help with the noise try replacing the fans with high quality ones. I threw some nocturnas into an old managed dell switch and it quieted down immensely. Just be aware that sometimes they change the pins around from the standard pinout, I blew out one of the fans before discovering this. Fan still works, just lost the rpm monitoring :(
- numpad0 6y ago
  Server fans are not cheap, they’re smaller and faster. Look at current and CFM rating. They might look insane from DIY market figures.
- justinclift 6y ago
  Thanks, very much agree. I took a naive approach to it before having any clue about electronics, just replacing one of the (3) internal fans with a quieter one of the same voltage. Mostly to see if that would work. While it functioned, the "fan warning" light was then permanently on (with the replacement fan in). If I still had the gear and were to do it again, I'd investigate properly and figure out a real solution. :)