John,

I do understand that you can use a server in a non server port... but based on the macro below:

Macro name : cisco-desktop
Macro type : default interface
# macro keywords $access_vlan
# desktop port role
switchport mode access
switchport port-security maximum 1
no macro description
macro description cisco-desktop
queue-set 2
service-policy input general-map
srr-queue bandwidth share  5  5 40 50
switchport access vlan $access_vlan
switchport port-security
switchport port-security violation restrict
switchport port-security aging time 2
switchport port-security aging type inactivity
spanning-tree portfast
storm-control broadcast level 10.0
cdp enable
spanning-tree bpduguard enable

And then this macro:

Macro name : cisco-server-critical
Macro type : default interface
# macro keywords $access_vlan
# server port role critical
switchport mode access
switchport port-security maximum 1
no macro description
macro description cisco-server-critical
queue-set 1
service-policy input critical-server-map
srr-queue bandwidth share  5  5 70 20
switchport access vlan $access_vlan
switchport port-security
switchport port-security violation restrict
switchport port-security aging time 2
switchport port-security aging type inactivity
spanning-tree portfast
storm-control broadcast level 10.0
cdp enable
spanning-tree bpduguard enable

It doesn't set the qos the same ways.  I assume we would have a noticable difference in speed to the server, and since the esw's are not ios, I dont' see there is anyway to set these manually.

Now I do realize that these switches are base switches, but in my opinion we are penalizing SMB with substandard options.  I got these macro definitions from my CE520-24PC.

Thanks!

QoS configuration on the ESW 520 and ESW 540 switches is described in Chapter 12 of the ESW 500 Administration Guide. I know that the QoS for server traffic is possible to do on ESW switches, but it is not an easy one step option. Some of the server options are designed to be used in environments where Cisco Unified Communications Manager is deployed, and should not be used in SBCS/UC500 or Cisco Unified CME deployments.

You probably do not need to do any special QoS tricks to connect servers to ESW 540 switches or to the gigabit ports on ESW 520 switches. The ESW 520 and ESW 540 switches actually prioritize voice over data. Voice only consumes about 1/1000 of the available bandwidth on a 10/100 port, and about 1/10000 of the available bandwidth on a 10/100/1000 port if a phone with a gigabit Ethernet port is used.

Currently available phones that support Gigabit Ethernet: 7945G, 7965G, 7975G

End-of-life phones that support Gigabit Ethernet: 7941G-GE, 7961G-GE, 7971G-GE

If you want to take advantage of Gigabit Ethernet, you need to use the ESW-540-24P PoE switch, or use the non-PoE versions of the ESW 540 switch and power the phones with power cubes.

You can probably get around the problem by plugging your server and your desktop computers into a ESW 540 switch. Be sure that the servers are directly plugged into the ESW 540 switch. Plug your desktop computers either directly into the ESW 540 switch, or to the PC port on a Cisco 7900 series phone that has a Gigabit Ethernet PC port (such as the 7945G, 7965G, or 7975G).

ESW switches also have a higher switching capacity than the Catalyst Express counterparts. This means that the ESW switches can handle more traffic than their Catalyst Express counterparts.

John,

I had read that in the new docs as well.

Thanks for the update for everyone else.

Chris