Grouptest: Dual-speed Ethernet switches - Allied Telesy Rapier 24

Allied Telesyn's Rapier 24 has some unique features. Aimed at a variety of apps including high-performance desktop connectivity and server farm aggregation, it offers full Layer-3 routing, optional Gigabit uplinks, some unusual Wan connection options and firewall protection as well.

In addition to 24 dual-speed ports, the Rapier 24 has a pair of expansion slots that accept single-port 1000BaseSX, 1000BaseLX or 100/1000BaseT modules. An expansion slot provides upgrade options for Wan links over G.703/E1/T1 or ISDN PRI and BRI links.

This feature is aimed at applications such as VoIP, VPNs, internet services and branch office networking. You need to install a network services module (NSM) and then add up to four port interface cards (PICs) depending on the Wan connection required.

Firewalling comes with the optional Nemesis software. This needs activating from the CLI with a soft key and can provide features such as IP filtering, proxies for FTP, Telnet, HTTP and SMTP, and service attack logs.

Switching is powered by a 200MHz Risc chip, and the 9.6Gbps backplane impressed in the performance tests by returning a full 100 per cent forwarding efficiency at all traffic loads and low latency.

After assigning the switch an IP address, you can move away from complex CLI and use web browser management although features such as the NSM and installed PICs cannot be accessed from here.

Port trunking is supported and the two Gigabit ports can be grouped together for a single high-speed link. Eight priority levels can be applied to four egress queues. VLans, filtering and spanning tree parameters are accessed in the Layer-2 screen while basic routing features including IP static routing, RIP and OSPF are on the Layer-3 screen.

Overall, an impressive range of features but watch out for the new Rapier 24i: it will support 256 VLans and limit rate by port.

Installation 2/5
Build quality 4/5
Features 5/5
Performance 4/5
Value for money 4/5
Overall 4/5

Contact Allied Telesyn 01235 442500
www.alliedtelesyn.com
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