The PowerConnect "classic" switches are based on Broadcom or Marvell Technology Group fabric and firmware.
The brand name was first announced in July 2001, as traditional personal computer sales were declining.
[3] Previously under storage business general manager Darren Thomas, in September 2010 Dario Zamarian was named to head networking platforms within Dell.
The Powerconnect-J (Juniper Networks) and B (Brocade) series are not longer sold, except for the B8000e/PCM8428-K full FCoE switches.
The PowerConnect 27xx series of switchers were web-managed all-Gigabit workgroup switches (10/100/1000) with eight, 16, 24, or 48 ports respectively.
Switches shipped in a plug-n-play unmanaged mode and can be managed via a graphical user interface.
On the 2824 and 2848, there are an additional 2 small form-factor pluggable transceiver (SFP) modules, for fiber-optic connectivity.
Switches ship in a plug-n-play unmanaged mode and can be managed via a graphical user interface.
Many features of the 5400 are now available on the 5500 series, but where the 5400 were certified for use with EqualLogic iSCSI arrays, the 5500 never passed the acceptance tests.
The 5500 series uses standard HDMI cables (specification 1.4 category 2 or better) to stack with a total bandwidth of 40 Gbit/s per switch.
The -P series are also used to power other devices than phones, such as WiFi access points, IP cameras or thin clients.
There is also iSCSI optimization and auto-configuration, though Dell does not support them with their EqualLogic family of storage arrays.
[7] Although they were meant as the follow-up for the EqualLogic certified 5400 switches, the 5500's never passed the acceptance tests: problems with latency -especially in stacked setups- prevented certification.
High availability routing, edge connectivity, traffic aggregation and VOIP applications all supported in the 62xx series.
Flexible, high-speed stacking, fiber support and MS NSP Certification included.
A variant with reversible air flow is available for top of rack data center applications.
On the 8024 the last 4 ports (21-24) are combo-ports with the option to use the 4 SFP+ slots to use fiber optic connections for longer-distance uplinks to core switches.
Similar to the rack-switches PCT7000 and PCT8024 series the switch offers an out-of-band Fast Ethernet port for management as well as a serial console connection, required for initial configuration.
The underlying operating system of the PCT8100 is based on Linux 2.6 where all other 'Broadcom powered' PowerConnects run on VxWorks.
This feature, along with Internet SCSI optimization, iSCSI TLV, and DCBx discovery and monitoring, enables seamless 10GbE performance in an end-to-end data center solution.
In addition, with the recent firmware release, up to 6 M8024-k switches can now be stacked and managed through a single IP.
Each model has its own family of firmware with different CLI and GUI (the PCT5500 series offer very limited layer-3 options, but is mainly a layer-2 switch).
The Broadcom-based multi-layer switches offer a wide range of layer-2 and layer-3 options, and new features are added all the time.
A free version,[27] which only allows the user to manage up to 10 network devices, is available on the firmware page of the respective switches.
The B-series and J-series were Dell branded versions of switches from Brocade Communications Systems and Juniper Networks respectively.
The W-series is the wireless range from Aruba Networks[28] Due to the acquisition of Force10 all the PowerConnect-J series and nearly all of the PowerConnect B-series have been discontinued.
The normal (datacenter) Ethernet switches from Juniper and Brocade are now replaced by Dell Force10 models[29] `` The W-series, which is the Aruba product line for enterprise-class WiFi switches will continue to be available and the available models are extended in the near future.
[30] In July 2011 Dell announced the acquisition of Force10 Networks, another company that designed and marketed Ethernet switches.
[1] This led to speculation that relationships with other vendors such as Cisco and Brocade would change because they overlap the data center market.
[31] In September 2011 Dell announced plans to expand the staff from Force10 in San Jose, California and Chennai, India.