bandwith considerations w/router-on-a-stick vs L3 switches

dgalati000 · ‎10-27-2009

I need to determine if I should go with a (new) L2 switch and mult VLANS and use router-on-a-stick for intervlan routing. Its conducive to what the cust has at his multiple sites.

Or should I convince him to go with a L3 switch to the router instead ?

My concern is that its a mobile wireless site with two different radio signals (CDMA and GSM) operating in the same site...and I don't want a bottleneck on the trunk between the switch and the router when intervlan routing using the L2 switch. That is, one of the vlans consuming all the 10/100 trunk bandwidth would not work in the L2 switch env - or is it ?

Suggestions please ??

Joseph W. Doherty · ‎10-27-2009

Besides trunk bandwidth, most smaller routers don't offer high bandwidth routing (e.g. supporting even one gig). For LAN routing performance, a L3 switch is often a better choice.

Don't overlook the 8 or 12 port 3560s. Neither are very expensive.

justinmitchell · ‎10-31-2009

It comes down to how many hosts you have on the LAN and if there is a lot of inter-vlan routing required. Other considerations are budget and cost of actual equipment. Unless there is a lot intervlan routing, I wouldn't think you would saturate the trunk. Using GSM and CDMA for your WAN(?) connection you won't experience saturation on the trunk from people downloading across the WAN anyway.