Review: Managed Low-Power Switch DGS-1100-8

In a past Mission-Log, we've reviewed the power consumption of "green" Ethernet Switches (consumer-grade/unmanaged) that could be used in off-grid environments and they performed really well. Compliant with IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet, these switches consume less energy by cutting down on power consumption when the traffic volume is low and automatically measure the length of the connected cables to adjust power usage, when cables are shorter than 20 meters. In addition, they monitor the link status of every port and drastically reduce power consumption when a port has no link. With more technology and infrastructure, the need increased for more Ethernet features like VLANs, trunks and many other features, usually offered only by expensive, loud and very power hungry managed/enterprise switches.

Luckily this situation has changed and we could test and already deploy a new pair of managed but very low power and fanless (silent) switches: The D-Link DGS-1100 Family, which also come in a sturdy metal case and with the benefit of a (limited - due to legal issues on a per country basis) lifetime warranty.

For better comparison all measurement results have been put together. A couple of people have been a bit unhappy, that we've only documented power consumption on the DC side in the past review (which is all we care about for off-grid usage). As a result, we've documented DC and Wall-Power consumption with the original D-Link AC/DC plug.

Wall-Power was measured using this device. DC consumption was measured with our Portapow USB Powermeter, which also has a connection kit for barrel connectors.

For better comparison, we've tested the same set of scenarios as in the first test to keep results as comparable as possible.

The DGS-1100-8 test candidates have been up and running 24×7 for more than 365 days now without any glitch or the necessity to power cycle. These switches are configured/updated entirely through a webUI (default IP is 10.90.90.90 - admin/admin) and offer no ssh/CLI access. Until now that hasn't been much of a problem because everything needed could be configured via browser.

There is some sort of serial console on J1 (576008N1)

==========Loader: 1.0.13 (Build: Apr 10 2013, 13:51:22)==========
[Loader] dummy_init......


==========Loader start===========
Press any key to start the normal procedure.
To run SPI flash viewer, press [v]
To enforce the download of the runtime kernel, press [ESC] 
    Check Runtime Image.....
    Chksum Correct!
    RunTime Kernel Starting....  
SalFlshCopyFlshToCache()
[FW] dummy_flash_toCache......
sal_sys_config_restore()DHCPC is disabled.
...OK
sal_mirror_config_restore()...OK
sal_qos_config_restore()...OK
sal_vlan_config_restore()...OK
sal_trunk_config_restore()...OK
sal_rate_config_restore()...OK
sal_port_config_restore()...OK
sal_l2_config_restore()...OK
sal_loop_config_restore()...OK
sal_eee_restore()...OK
sal_green_restore()...OK
sal_admin_restore()...OK
sal_igmp_restore()...OK

==========Runtime: 1.10.030 (Build: Oct 17 2014, 12:18:16)==========
### dummy_init......OK! 

If you need a manageable Switch, which requires almost no electricity and is absolutely silent since there are no fans in it, the D-Link DGS-1100 series is a serious candidate for you. Recommended Buy.