New Affordable QNAP QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S 10Gbe Switch for 2019/20

New QNAP QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S Affordable 10Gbe Switch Supporting RJ45 and SFP+

In our continued coverage of Computex, we have spent an inordinate amount of time with the guys at QNAP. Their stand currently features an impressive mix of heavy hitters that either made their appearance at CES 2019 or are already available to home and business users. Into this mix, we find the new QNAP QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S 10Gbe unmanaged switch that, as you would expect from the big innovators in NAS, has got a qwerky and unique selling feature or two under the bonnet. Reaching out to more cost-effective consumers that only want to partially adopt 10Gbe into their environment, the QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S is a low power, low noise network solution that provides a good balance between supporting more traditional 1-gigabit network devices and adds multiple channels for connecting 10x gigabit devices. This, along with an impressive network processor under the bonnet shows that QNAP is not sitting idle. Let us take a closer look at the new QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S 10Gbe network switch.

Who is the QNAP QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S 10Gbe Unmanaged Switch Targeted at?

As you would expect, each QNAP NAS, switch, NIC or adapter is designed with a certain user type or industry in mind, either in the interests of efficiency, or to get a price point that presents an attractive Hardware vs Value bottom line for the user. The QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S are designed with application with companies that only want to include 10Gbe speed of access to 1/10 of their network hardware connected. Perhaps it is a 10Gbe NAS, that will provide enormous speeds to the network environment, then allow all 1Gbe PC, Mac, Office terminals and devices to get the MAX 1Gbe each, without the bandwidth being tottled between NAS and switch in the background.

Alternatively, you may have an existing 10Gbe network (or plan on adopting one later) and need to create a 1Gbe brand splitting from that former network – This switch provides a very discrete and affordable means to achieve this.

As the QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S is unmanaged, the focus is on the hardware and ports for the end user to work with, removing smart functions like link aggregation off the table, QNAP has struck an interesting balance with the QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S 10Gbe switch supporting both Copper and Fibre with its combo 10Gbe ports. This kind of switch has always existed in a less precise form, from companies like netgear, with big internal fans and heat/power consumption that is just too high for it to be workable in a number of environments.

What are the Hardware Specifications of the QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S 10Gbe Switch Range?

The hardware inside (and outside) of the QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S QNAP 10Gbe 8+3 Port switches is pretty modern in terms of design, connectivity and ethernet type support (especially the combo function). QNAP has always been one of the first to the market with more modern tech (just look at their 8^th get i5 use, the Ryzen series and NVMe support in their existing and newly announced devices). The QNAP QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S continues this trend but in a slightly different way and does so without tredding on  the toes of the QSW-1208-8C. The QNAP QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S arrives with 8x 1Gbe RJ45 slots, and either 2 SFP+ and 1 10GBASE-T 10Gbe ports, or 3 SFP+ 10Gbe ports (depending on the model). It also arrives with an external PSU with a unique top loaded connector.

One factor we should particularly focus on is the fact it is unmanaged. This means that you will not have a software GUI with which to change your NAS server, support things like link aggregation and more. Though it is worth mentioning that despite the inclusion of network management software, you can still utilize the combo functionality in the QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S switch featuring the 10GBASE-T and FIBER SFP+ port.

When will the QNAP QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S 10Gbe Switch be Released and What Price?

As mentioned earlier, the release and retail price of the QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S is way to early to speculate on. With a big focus towards network peripherals, upgraded NICs and Thunderbolt at Computex, the QNAP team were suprisingly tight lipped on the QSW-308-1C and QSW-303S Switch when asked. Likely we will see this arriving in full force by the start of Q3, but this is just conjecture and more based o nthe companies growing efforts to facilitate business users at that part fo the year, as well as enable home users to make a much easier and affordable step into the 10Gbe storage area network.

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  This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases