Advice on POE Switches

bwhid

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I'm Bill, a newbie, and have been studying IP Cam Talk Wiki and looking at the forums. It's like a graduate course in ip cameras. Thank you for all your hard work in preparing and organizing this information. I am trying to help a non-profit install network cameras on a limited budget, but with large multiple buildings. I have been in contact with Andy about purchasing Dahua cameras. The system will have a Dahua NVR starting out with 16 cameras across 3 buildings, but may expand to 32 in the future. I was looking at using 2 Networking Switches that I wanted to upload to a router using fiber optic, then connect to the NVR. I have been looking at used enterprise Cisco switches, and new BV-tech and Netgear. Calculating the wattage per switch, the cameras will use about 65W now, and as much as 130 in the future. I was looking at this poe switch, but wanted to know if 190 watts would be enough. The switches will be in a business setting. Any advice/direction would be helpful.
Netgear model: GS324TP 26 port | 24xPoE+ 190W | 2xSFP.

 
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sebastiantombs

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All the eggs in one basket can be a problematic situation when things fail. You may be better off with two, or three, smaller switches so that if one fails you don't lose all the cameras at the same time. I tried a BV Tech switch and they have rather weak power supplies, as in they won't start under load like coming back from a power failure.
 

bwhid

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Thank you for your help! I was planning on using 2 of the Netgear switches with a dedicated router and NVR.
 

Shotglasspeppa

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Idk what the network infrastructure is or what it will look like given this isn't for home use but you may want to take this into consideration when you choose your switch, especially in terms of security and vlans if you plan on going down that route.
 

bwhid

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Yes thank you. The existing network is using two un-managed Netgear switches. Do you think 2 switches, each with 190 watts is enough to power 32 cameras total?
 

Shotglasspeppa

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Yes thank you. The existing network is using two un-managed Netgear switches. Do you think 2 switches, each with 190 watts is enough to power 32 cameras total?
You'll need to find out what cameras you'll be using and see how much they draw then figure out if they'll fit under the PoE budget of your switch/es.
 

reflection

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If you are comfortable with Cisco CLI, this would be a better deal. About half the price (a little over $100). Much larger POE budget. More features if you need them down the road. 48ports. I would get one per building and use the fiber SFPs to uplink to your main building.

What kind of router do you have? If you have not already bought your router, you can use this switch for layer 3 routing. If you want to add some redundancy, buy three switches, one for each building. Then connect them together in a ring. The Cisco switches will take care of loop prevention using spanning-tree. Any single fiber cut and you will still have full reachability.

The biggest expense for your project will be running fiber between buildings if they don't already have fiber runs.

 
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bwhid

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Thank you so much for your help! I will look into that. I have no experience with Cisco. I used to build databases with languages that are outdated now.
 

wudwork

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I am a fan of Zyxel switches. The 10 port models support vlans and POE and have SFP ports for uplink via fiber. I have POE cameras plugged into each port and they all work just fine. I like that I can manage them via web portal.
 
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spuls

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I am a fan of Zyxel switches. The 10 port models support vlans and POE and have SFP ports for uplink via fiber. I have POE cameras plugged into each port and they all work just fine. I like that I can manage them via web portal.
and they 1900 Series Switches also offer a lot of nice features like time schedules (e.g. reset a port once a week).
 
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AP514

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Well, If you are putting all your Cams on 1 switch here is a deal for you......
older--NETGEAR 48-Port Gigabit PoE+ Ethernet Smart Managed Pro Switch w/ 4 SFP Ports. He wants $200ish but make a lower offer the item has been sitting for awhile....
another 24 port + 4sfp
 
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reflection

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I don't think a single switch is an option because there are 3 buildings. Get one switch per building and connect them via fiber. If you use one switch and run copper to other buildings, even if they are within the distance limits of Ethernet, you risk electrical surge issues.
 

AP514

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If he has Free Conduit then 1 single or even 2 will work. If Not then Yup SFP for the win..you can run Fiber cable in 120v conduit from 1 building to another.
 

bwhid

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Sorry for the slow response. I will get one switch for each building and plan to run fiber cable with SFP port. I've run cat5/6 but never fiber. I was going to fun the fiber in conduit between the buildings, then in the drop ceilings inside. Anything a novice should know about running fiber?
I can't thank you enough for all your help. After reading the Wiki pages and other forum comments, I have completely changed the cameras and setup. It would have been a mess without your help.
I am reviewing all the links and have gotten a treasure of information from everyone. The degree of knowledge is amazing!
 

AP514

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I just ran 115ft / 35meters from house to Garage. The Fiber Cable is very thin and delicate IMO.
I piggy backed the Fiber Cable onto other wire..I used the wire to attach the pull cable to.
Unless your conduit has nothing in it. I would Piggyback the Fiber along with a wire you can put some stress on while pulling.
 

bwhid

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To update, I went with three of the Cisco WS-C3560X-48PF-L 48 Port Switches. Price was $95 each w/1G SFP module and 1 year warranty. I also ordered the 10G SFP module for use on the building with the longest run. And I found a relative who could program/setup the switches. I will let you know how they work out.
Thanks again for the invaluable help!
 

reflection

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To update, I went with three of the Cisco WS-C3560X-48PF-L 48 Port Switches. Price was $95 each w/1G SFP module and 1 year warranty. I also ordered the 10G SFP module for use on the building with the longest run. And I found a relative who could program/setup the switches. I will let you know how they work out.
Thanks again for the invaluable help!
Good luck. You have an 800W PoE budget on each switch so there is plenty of room for growth :). Hope you got one with the C3KX-NM-10G module if you want to use 10G SFP+. Depending on the distance between buildings, you may need single mode fiber.
 

bwhid

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Good luck. You have an 800W PoE budget on each switch so there is plenty of room for growth :). Hope you got one with the C3KX-NM-10G module if you want to use 10G SFP+. Depending on the distance between buildings, you may need single mode fiber.
Thank you. I will use fiber between the buildings for uplink. I also purchased the 10G module. These switches are full of power and features. Looking forward to getting them setup.
 
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