Choose from various QNAP NAS that support 2.5GbE or 10GbE connectivity to meet your demands for higher speeds! For years, 1GbE networking has been the most popular option, automatically built into motherboards, Switches, Routers, and just about any device that needed networking. In enterprise environments, 10GbE was the most common option, so the natural thought was that 1GbE would naturally progress to 10GbE. In terms of the overall 2.5GbE performance, we were able to get fairly normal 2.5GbE speeds from each of the four ports and decent 10GbE speeds as well. QNAP QSW 2104 2T A Performance TRENDnet’s Unmanaged 2.5G PoE+ Switches are a great solution to expand network bandwidth and alleviate traffic congestion. These switches are equipped with 2.5GBASE-T RJ-45 ports, which provide faster gigabit speeds of up to 2.5Gbps over existing Cat5e or better cabling. The switches come with durable metal enclosures and can be mounted on the wall for easy installation. The fanless design ensures low energy consumption and eliminates operating noise. These reliable and cost-effective 2.5G PoE+ switches can increase your network’s performance. Additionally, this PoE+ switch has a 55W total PoE power budget, which can supply up to 4 PoE+ devices with up to 30W per port.

QSW-2104-2T: 6 ports, including 2x 10 GbE RJ45 ports (10G/5G/2.5G/1G/100M) and 4x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports (2.5G/1G/100M) It’s a valid point that 10GbE, although still more expensive than 1GbE and 2.5GbE, has become more affordable in the last five years with the advancements in more efficient and cost-effective 10GbE network controllers. This has led to the availability of more affordable 10GbE routers and switches. Some network experts may view 2.5GbE as a temporary solution, and prefer to invest in something with more bandwidth. However, there are reasons to consider 2.5GbE, for example: At idle, we saw 4.0W which is very good for this class of switches. It would be good for a 4-port or 5-port 2.5GbE switch alone, but there are also 10GbE ports making this a higher-bandwidth switch. QNAP QSW 2104 2T A 4x 2.5GbE 2x 10Gbase T Switch 4.0W Idle Power

Management interfaces can be extremely helpful – from limiting specific ports to an individual VLAN, flat-out disabling ports, or just for testing and validation, the interface can be extremely beneficial. With that said, they’re not necessary in a lot of cases, so for many, they’ll be a “nice to have” more than a necessity.

Note: If the distance between the switch and the device is less than 45 meters (148 feet), a Cat 6 cable can be used to achieve 10Gb/s speeds. Since we are going to be doing this as part of a series, we will note that this is an unmanaged switch. The QSW-2104-2T features 10GbE and 2.5GbE RJ45 ports for connecting various bandwidth-demanding devices, and supports the NBASE-T™ standard for connection using Cat 5e or Cat 6a cabling. With the QSW-2104-2T, you can easily create a hybrid high-speed network in homes and offices to accelerate file transfer, virtual machine applications, multimedia streaming/sharing, and more. Port Trunking, also known as LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol), allows you to combine multiple LAN interfaces for increased bandwidth and load balancing for multiple clients. It also provides failover capabilities to maintain network connectivity if a network port fails. Gigabit networking allows you to get 2.5x higher speeds than 1 Gigabit networking. Not only that, you’ll also have the benefit of being able to use your existing Cat 5e cables and not having to upgrade to Cat 6 and you’ll see all of the speed increases.The rear simply has screws for opening the lid. QNAP QSW 2104 2T A 4x 2.5GbE 2x 10Gbase T Switch Rear Warning: Using unsupported modules may degrade performance, cause errors, or prevent the operating system from starting. Pros – 10G + 2.5G arriving at the same/cheaper price than many 2.5G-only switches right now. Unique and Attractive Design. Unmanaged BUT the Turbo Mode adds Priority of Sevice features. Fanless + Ridged Metal design assists heat dissipation. LED and lighting are quite cool looking the 10gbe cost about slightly more than triple that. and thats not counting the more expensive 10gbe switch