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What switch works best with IP-Audio?
We get asked a lot about which switches work best with Axia
IP-Audio Networks. The answer is "that depends," primarily on
the size of the system you're planning. Axia can recommend a variety of Cisco
switches to suit the needs of different-sized
installations.
Why Cisco? We have tested other switches and quite frankly,
Cisco hardware is the best we've tested in all ways. After all,
this is your program audio we're talking about, and Cisco's
reputation for uptime in critical applications is unmatched;
Cisco switches are used by
hospitals,
banks,
stock exchanges,
airlines… all 24/7 applications that need bulletproof
reliability.
Cisco also offers a wide range of switches at all price points
to meet individual users' needs. (For further reading, check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalyst_switch .)
The switches described below are a representative sample from
our complete list of qualified switches,
and provide a good balance of features and cost-effectiveness.
An Axia Applications Engineer will be happy to assist you in
determining the correct switch for your application – please
contact us for assistance.
For single-studio applications:
 Cisco
Catalyst
2960G-8TC Compact Switch is perfect for small
applications, like single-studio facilities,
transmitter-building networks or home production setups. The
2960-8TC is a cost-effective, small-footprint switch with
seven 10/100/1000 Ethernet
ports and one dual-purpose Gigabit port. Measures
just 4.4 x 27 x 16.3 cm, but can be rack-mounted with
an accessory kit. Because all eight ports are 1000Base-T
capable, it can also be used as a small edge switch in
larger facilities.
For small and medium-sized studio networks:
 Cisco
Catalyst
2960-24TC is a great choice if your building plans
call for 1 - 2 studios, or if you plan on expanding your
studio network in the future. It has 24 10/100 Ethernet ports
and two Gigabit ports. Typically, you'd use one per studio,
connecting to other rooms with the second Gigabit switch. If
your building plans call for just two studios, one 2960-24TC
can serve both.
For medium-to-large studio networks:
 Cisco
Catalyst
3560 Series switches are recommended as an
edge switch for medium-sized studio networks where it's
desirable to share a switch between two to three studios on
a single switch, or as a single-room switch for larger
studios with large equipment loads. The 3560-48TS model has
48 10/100 ports and increases the number of dual-purpose
Gigabit ports to 4. The 3560G switches have 24 to 48
10/100/1000 Ethernet port models with 4 dual-purpose Gigabit
ports for better throughput capacity and is a good choice
for use in systems with as many as 8-10 studios.
 For "OMG-size" studio networks:
Building
the next radio Taj Majal? Switches such as those from the
the Cisco
Catalyst 4500 family have the modularity and
scalability that can help prepare your build for today's
needs and tomorrow's. We've helped select
switches for very large studio complexes built by MPR,
Univision, Radio Free Asia and others.
Give us a call or drop us a
line... we're happy to help discuss your needs.
"Are those my only choices?"
The switches listed above will be perfect for 99% of all Axia
users, but not everyone's needs are the same.
Contact an Axia Applications Engineer
if you have any questions about which switch is right for you.
Switch Mini-FAQ
"Why can't I just use my favorite switch with
Axia?"
People ask us this question every so often. We have
standardized on Cisco because their reliability, feature
sets and performance are the best we've found. Cisco also offers a wide
range of switches at all price points to meet individual users'
needs.
How come other manufacturers' switches don't measure up? This is mostly due to individual manufacturers' differing
implementation of the same "standards". For file transfers and
e-mail, these differences are immaterial. But for VoIP and, most
especially, IP-Audio, these implementations become more
important. It's quite possible for a given switch to "work" with just a few
nodes attached, but when a more robust test of Axia's
capabilities is applied, that same switch can fail.
For example, we found a nice, inexpensive switch
from a well-known manufacturer which, on paper, met all specs
and worked with small systems in the lab. However, it turned out
to not actually meet its own published specs when deployed for rigorous service
in a large Livewire system.
For this reason, we recommend and qualify only Cisco switches
for Axia clients.
"Why does Axia recommend EMI switch software versus
SMI?"
Many Cisco switches are available with either the
standard multilayer software image (SMI) or the enhanced
multilayer software image (EMI). The SMI feature set
includes advanced QoS, rate-limiting, ACLs, and basic
routing functionality. The EMI provides a richer set of
enterprise-class features, including advanced
hardware-based IP unicast and IP Multicast routing as
well as policy-based routing (PBR). While SMI-equipped
switches perform well in systems of limited scale, EMI
provides better performance in larger systems where more
audio routing occurs.
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