I/O increasing on Catalyst 3560G

[Evan Ray]

We have a Catalyst 3560G w/ IPBASE-M IOS on it that we use for iSCSI traffic to the servers.  Currently I see I/O at 72%, processor at 26% with about 25 or so iSCSI volumes.  I would like to add more volumes, at least 10 to 15 more with various loads.  I'm curious what would be my next step in switches, or possibly a way to load balance ...get 2 3560G switches?  I'm not quite sure what path to take to accommodate increased load.  Any ideas or paths I should take?  I want to maintain high performance and uptime, of course.  So I want to make the right decision.  

[Reza Sharifi]

3560G is few years old.  If you are looking to get a newer and faster switch for storage, take a look at Cisco Nexus 6001T. This is a 48 port 1/10 gig copper switch with a low latency packet forwarding and very high speed.

here is the datasheet:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/nexus-6001-switch/data_sheet_c78-726128.html

HTH

[Evan Ray]

I was definitely thinking about going Nexus, as I've been itching to get Nexus in our network.  But wow that 6001 switch has a serious pricetag on it!  I don't get how IT teams get upper management to approve these switches, I get shutdown every which way hence why we still have a 3560G for our SAN storage switch.  

[Leo Laohoo]

Then you'll need to raise a TAC Case.  IF management doesn't want to invest in a DC-grade switch infrastructure and you're access switch gets overwhelmed with micro-burst traffic then TAC can help you alleviate some of the pain by crafting QoS specific to the model of your switch.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

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Posting

The 3560/3750 series are really user edge switches.  They lack buffers for high speed microbursts.

If the Nexus series it too expensive, you might consider the 4948E, the 4500-X or some of the MetroE switches.

[Evan Ray]

I know the Nexus 5010 are EOL, but they have some great prices.  Do you see any downsides to running this switch for awhile?  I know I can't upgrade or get TAC, but for the mere performance I would think it's a good choice.