ASUS XG-U2008 10GBase-T Network Switch Released: 2x10G + 8x1G for $249
by Ian Cutress on October 10, 2016 12:21 PM EST- Posted in
- Networking
- Asus
- 10G Ethernet
- Switch
- 10GBase-T
- Switches
- XG-U2008
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Back at CES, we saw what looked like a first budget-style entry into the 10GBase-T networking arena for low-cost, high-speed RJ-45 networking that would be backwards compatible with most of an enthusiasts home network infrastructure. At the time I was told it would be $300, but I misread the brochure and thought it said ten 10G ports. When I realized it said two ports 10GBase-T with another 8x1G ports, it still looked pretty interesting to say the least. ASUS is now formally announcing the launch of the hardware, called the XG-U2008, for $250 available at Newegg today.
At CES we saw a brushed aluminium switch, with the aim focused more on the premium and prosumer market. The styling of the switch on release essentially matches the one we saw at the show. There isn’t much in the way to say about the switch – it is unmanaged, offers two 10GBase-T ports and eight 1G ports, with the latter also supporting 100 Mbps standards. The total switch fabric affords a rated 56 Gbps bandwidth as well as up to 16 KB jumbo frames and a 2Mb memory buffer. The external adapter is rated at 18W, and it measures 1.06-inch high.
Putting this into perspective, we recently did a quick news post rounding up all the motherboards with 10GBase-T preinstalled and noted that the additional cost of the switch and the motherboard puts the cost per port for 10GBase-T around $100-$150. Aside from the $200 extra per motherboard for one or two ports, an 8-port switch comes in at around $700 (or a 16-port for $1400). Compared to the larger and more expensive switches, this switch only has two 10G ports, meaning that the only options for connectivity will be between a 10G NAS and a bigger 10G switch, or a 10G PC and a 10G NAS - ASUS marks down that for a PC-based LAN, a couple of servers could be on the 10G ports instead.
Options for low-cost 10GBase-T switches mean that it’s a minimum $700 for a few ports, which for most users is not particularly low cost. Bringing at least two ports in a 10G switch for $250 brings the cost of ownership right down and more palatable, although only having two ports has some limitations. The fact that it's available straight away from Newegg for anyone (in the US) is a plus.
Source: ASUS Edge Up, ASUS Product Page, Newegg
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close - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
I know some guys commenting here on Anandtech that must be ecstatic about this. They can finally reliably stream media to their TV... o_OSarcasm aside, at $250 this is a bargain. Too bad that you'll have to double the investment to get 10G on a motherboard.
Ian Cutress - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
At the right time, dual port 10GBase-T cards (X540-esque) can be had for $200, probably second hand though - my last purchase was 200GBP a pop. Though you still need one at the other end point, unless you picked up a SOHO/SMB server or NAS already with 10G, like a Xeon-D based one.Kjella - Tuesday, October 11, 2016 - link
For now, but this switch brings prices down to where a 10G consumer NAS/workstation might sell to a few enthusiasts so there'll be more network-oriented boards. Right now it's only in the "we'll throw in any crazy thing we can think of" $500+ mobos. Even a single HDD can do >125MB/s, if it's sequential...Philmatic - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
"The total switch fabric affords a 56 Gbps bandwidth (which is more than enough for the switch)".Not *more than enough*, it's *just* enough".
Switching fabric refers to the total amount of bandwidth available on all ports simultaneously, factoring in full-duplex.
2 x 10gb = 20 x 2 (Full duplex) = 40gbps
8 x 1gb = 8 x 2 Full duplex) = 16gbps
56gbps.
bcronce - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
Hopefully it also can handle the packets per second for minimum packets. What I really want is a switch with 10Gb uplinks and 2.5Gb or 5Gb ports, so my firewall/router can better handle micro-bursts.Communism - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
Does the switch support teaming?As in can you do 4x 1 Gbps teamed transfers directly to either of the 10 gigabit ports?
Communism - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
Without teaming support, I don't see any point in this device other than to daisy chain together to make in effect a big 1x 10 gbit + as many 1gbit ports as you want switch.Black Obsidian - Monday, October 10, 2016 - link
Somebody with a file server and one primary client that they'd like 10GbE on, but who doesn't want to shell out $800 to bring 10GbE to secondary systems, printers, etc. would be a pretty good target for this device.Valantar - Tuesday, October 11, 2016 - link
I think I'm smack-dab in the middle of the target group for this. I'll be building a video editing rig for my girlfriend in winter/spring, and at the same time want to move our backups off the current combo HTPC/NAS and onto a dedicated network storage unit (windows file sharing is just not my friend) that can also serve as a raw clip dump for her.I have no actual need for anything beyond GBE for my desktop or the HTPC, but having a 10GBE link between the NAS and her editing rig would be a HUGE boon. Of course, 2.5/5GBE across the board would be nice for future-proofing, but considering the spec was just announced I doubt any affordable switches will be showing up in the near future.
Renderman - Wednesday, October 14, 2020 - link
That's exactly why i bought it! 2x10GbE for my server and workstation, 8x1GbE for all my other devices. 2 Intel X540-T2 cards in my systems working well with this switch.