Switch madness

As it will soon be time to expand my empire, I need to start my switch research now. I have searched the forums and web, and still have a few key points I would like to find answers to before I go ahead and purchase a switch.

I have found Cisco / Dell / HP highly recommended, and am looking into the Cisco 24xx line of switches. I have determined that I want SNMP managed switch (So I can monitor bandwidth on a per-port basis). I also understand I should look for the "enterprise" edition switches, though I admit I am not sure exactly why.

My network:
-Single Cat5 drop from ISP, to switch, to my rack of servers. Quite simple. I do not need a switch with gigabit uplinks or anything, I am on a 100megs/sec ethernet with my provider. I imagine that should unnecessarily inflate my expenses Switch madness

My questions:
1) What is the difference between the 19xx, 2924, 2950, and anything newer? The # of models is MIND BOGGLING.

2) Can any of those switches limit bandwidth on a per-port basis (ie cap port #4 at 512k/sec? )

3) I realize MRTG can be used for bandwidth monitoring with this switch. What do you guys use to measure:

-95th percentile
-Total transferred (in+out)

I was looking at the 95th.pl patch for MRTG, but would it not be easier to use something else? Just wondering, as I would like to track my server's usages more closely than I am currently able to do.

Just looking for recommendations based on my needs. Thanks!

Dan

 

 

 

 

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