Abstract

Nortel commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate its SMB-class Gigabit Ethernet LAN switch, the BES50GE, and compare it to similar entry-level “converged” offerings from Cisco Systems, Inc. and HP ProCurve.

The baseline requirement in selecting switches was that each provide highspeed data transfer with Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and be able to power VoIP phones, security cameras and wireless Access Points (APs) via Power over Ethernet (PoE).

Neither Cisco nor HP offers a switch directly comparable to Nortel which uniquely combines GbE on all ports and PoE on half the ports. Both Cisco and HP offer SMB customers either PoE or GbE — but not both. With PoE a base requirement for convergence, the Fast Ethernet (FE) HP ProCurve 2626-PWR and Cisco Catalyst Express 500-24PC models were chosen. Tests were conducted in January 2008.