Datasheet
DELL
™
POWERCONNECT
™
5400 SERIES
SWITCHES
Dell PowerConnect 5448 and 5424 Gigabit Ethernet switches are designed to
deliver advanced security and enterprise management capabilities — and they
are the world’s rst iSCSI-optimized switches.
ENTERPRISE-CLaSS PERfORmaNCE aND CaPabILITy
The PowerConnect 5400 series switches offer secure, fixed-port Gigabit Ethernet switching solutions which deliver
full wire-speed switching performance. With 24 or 48 built-in copper Gigabit Ethernet ports in a 1U form factor, the
PowerConnect 5400 series has a total switching capacity of up to 96 Gbps. The switches also offer flexibility with
their four SFP transceiver slots which can be used in lieu of up to four copper ports to support fiber media.
WORLD’S fIRST ISCSI-OPTImIzED SWITCH
iSCSI is a communication protocol used for sending data between servers and storage devices. The PowerConnect
5400 series is the world’s first switch portfolio which automatically optimizes for iSCSI traffic. The switches detect
whether traffic flows are iSCSI-based and if so assign that traffic flow a high-level of Quality of Service. This helps
ensure that iSCSI storage traffic is prioritized in the event of resource contention. The 5400-series also automatically
provides information about all active iSCSI sessions to allow for easier management and optimization.
RObuST SECuRITy
Advanced security features of the PowerConnect 5400 series switches help protect the network from accidental or
malicious interference. Edge authentication is supported through the industry-standard IEEE 802.1x protocol which
allows network access through RADIUS-defined usernames and passwords. The PowerConnect 5400 series provides
password management for increased network security and improved password control by encrypting management traffic
through SSL or SSH and secures SNMP access by filtering hosts based upon IP address. MAC-based port security is
designed to prevent unauthorized MAC addresses from accessing the network. This feature can send a trap to alert select
administrators whenever an unknown MAC address attempts to access the network, and can shut down the port if desired.
RADIUS and TACACS+ support enables centralized, remote authentication of administrative access to the switch. Management
access filtering provides a mechanism to limit network hosts that have management access to the switches.