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New Cisco 3750-X Switch with StackPower technology
Wed, 03/17/10 - 11:39pm    Add your comment

New Cisco 3750-X Switch

Playing defense, Cisco today announced its new 3750-X stackable switch priced at $5,200 (at least according to Forbes). The new and more affordable 3750-X is backward compatible with all the other models of Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches.

Cisco 3750-X Model Comparison

All switch models can be configured with the optional four Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) SFP or two 10GbE SFP+ uplink network modules.

New Cisco C3KX-NM-10G Network Module

Cisco also announced StackPower, a power-interconnect technology that brings power resiliency to a stack of 3750-X switches. Cisco said a single 1,100-watt power supply can provide power to four switches and the mission-critical endpoints attached to them to help ensure business continuity.

New Cisco StackPower technology

StackPower technology creates a pool of power that shares a common load consisting of all the switches in the power stack.

Cisco StackPower: One Power Pool, One Load

Up to nine switches can share power in a star topology by using an eXpandable Power System (XPS).

Star Topology, Using an XPS

The switches below have been cabled up to form a power stack in order to make use of unused power from switches with lower power requirements. This is the key benefit of Cisco StackPower technology, flexible use of available resources.

Power Stack of Four Switches

Power sharing mode is the core of StackPower and is the simplest (see the below diagram). The power gets allocated from the power pool as power requests come in from the switches and PoE devices (IP phones, wireless access points, and so on).

Power Share Mode

Below, StackPower aggregates three power supplies on four switches (1100W + 1100W + 1100W + 0W = 3300W). The load requirement is 500W per switch (500W + 500W + 500W + 500W = 2000).

Power sharing among 4 Switches

Redundant mode (as shown below) reserves an amount of power for redundancy from the power pool and guarantee operations in case of a single power supply failure in the power stack.

Redundant mode

Should power requirements increase in any of the switches of the power stack, StackPower will redirect power from the unallocated power pool to any port in any switch in the stack.

Redundant power

What's your take on the new Cisco 3750-X Switch with StackPower?

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