QNAP QSW-1208-8C-US 12-Port Unmanaged 10GbE Switch

A Closer Look at the QNAP QSW-1208-8C

The QSW-1208-8C has 12 ports total. Four of those ports are dedicated SFP+ ports and the other 8 can be used with either SFP+ modules or RJ45. The shared ports are labeled with the same port numbers. The switch measures in at just over an inch and a half tall, 11.2 inches wide, and 9.1 inches deep. The smaller size fits well on a desktop without taking up too much real estate. For those that have networking racks, the switch includes ears for mounting it in a standard 19″ rack.

On the front left of the QSW-1208-8C is the status panel. LEDs light up beside their corresponding port numbers when connected. SFP+ and Ethernet ports are labeled separately. Each LED color shows the speed at which the connection was negotiated.

There are a total of 12 ports on the QSW-1208-8C. The 1st four SFP+ ports are dedicated and are not shared with any of the RJ45 ports. The remaining eight ports are shared between SFP+ and RJ45. Only one of the shared ports can be connected at a time. The SFP+ ports are compatible with most SFP and SFP+ GBICs as well as DAC (Direct Attach Copper) cables.
The RJ45 ports support 10G over CAT6a. If the run is shorter than 45 meters (148 feet) then standard CAT6 can be used. Although, I have successfuly run 10G on CAT5e at short distances, it is  best to stick with manufactures recommendations. In order to reduce the total cost of upgrading, multi-gig was designed to run on CAT5e cabling. You can fully utilize 2.5G and 5G on your existing cables.

The left side of the QSW-1208-8C features two 60mm fans. Traditionally with most switches, the fans run at high speed and sound like a jet about to take off. While airflow is necessary in this switch, the fans are designed to be silent. Silent fans are also important as QNAP touts the switch as a desktop switch. The switch is also 802.11az (Energy Efficient Ethernet) compliant which, means that when a connected port is at low utilization, power consumption is reduced as well.

The right side of the QSW-1208-8C features a large mesh area to facilitate airflow. Through the mesh, you get a peek at the large aluminum heatsink inside. The fins on the heatsink run left to right. This allows the fans on the left of the switch to pull air in from the right side and across the heatsink.

The rear of the QSW-1208-8C is pretty bare. It has a Kensington lock port to secure the switch to the desktop. There is also a COM port. At this time, I’m not really sure what exactly it does. I’ve tried to connect to the switch however, I didn’t get a response. Power to the switch is provided by a standard power cable.

Removing the two screws on the top edge of the rear of the switch will allow you to access the internals of the QSW-1208-8C.  Towards the front of the switch, there is the mainboard with a large aluminum heatsink covering about 1/3 of the motherboard. To the right are the dual 60mm fans. Under the black cover at the back of the switch is the power supply.

Four screws secure the heatsink to the main board and after removing them, the heatsink comes off very easily. The heatsink is cooling the three Ethernet controllers. There is also a thermal couple on the right side helps control fan speeds.

There are two Ethernet controllers onboard the QSW-1208-8C, the modules are Marvell’s Alaska X 88X3340P 10G Base-T controllers and one switch controller, the Marvell Prestera 98DX8312A0 Ethernet controller. The Marvell 88X3340P is responsible for managing four of the combo SFP/RJ45 ports and is six-speed capable (10M, 100M, 1G, 2.5G, 5G or 10G) while switching and switch functions are managed by the Marvell Prestera 98DX.