How to: HP E2910-48G al Switch 1Gb fibre uplinking to 3com Switch 4400 (1000 base-SX)

[Tony Morrissey]

Hello

I'm looking to upgrade my 2 x 48 port 3Com Switch 4400 stack. This stack currently has a 1Gb (multi mode) fibre uplink to another 3Com 4400 stack in my building approx 100m away.

3Com 4400 current hw config:

3Com Switch 4400 x 2 48 Ports in stack

3C17221 1000Base-SX module

Media Type: 1000 BASE-SX

CurrentPortMode: 1000 FD

Propsed replacement:

Product name: 2 x HP E2910-48G al Switch - Product number: J9147A

- Most importantly would the HP stack be compatible with the 3Com stack via the 1000 Base-SX fibre link? Or would I possibly get negotiation issues?

What part No's do I need to buy for:

- Part no: Cable used for linking the 2 HP switches together in a stack.

- Part no: Fibre transeiver module to work with multi mode fibre using 1000 Base-SX

- Although not important, is it likely that I could use 10Gb fibre uplinks links here on my multimode fibre, if so whats the part no and cost of those transeiver modules.

[Stuggi]

As long as you're not trying to combine the new HP stack with your Cisco stack then you should be ok. Since you're running 1Gb through that fiber already there shouldn't be any problems with it. The part you need is a HP X121 1G SFP LC SX Transceiver (J4858C). It should work out of the box with the Cisco stack as long as both ports are configured correctly. 

For the 10Gbps side you'll need an 10Gbps module for your switches, the mount in the back and provide a couple of ports. Then you need optical transceivers for that module as well, depending on what kind of fiber you're working with. There's also CX4 modules available, but these are for 10Gbps copper cables.

For stacking the two HPs I would guess that you need nothing complicated, a couple of 1 meter CAT6 cables should do the trick, but since I haven't worked a lot with stacks I really can't give you a 100% answer on this.

Hope this helps!