Sodola SL-SWTGW2C48NS 12-port Combo 10GbE Switch Review

We found the 12-port 10GbE Sodola SL-SWTGW2C48NS as a low-cost option when looking for 10Gbase-T switches. What we found was something perhaps a bit better than we were expecting from a $230 switch (minus a $20 promotion at the time.) Unlike some switches that are low-cost and have a few SFP+ ports, this switch adds 10Gbase-T ports as well, and at a price almost the same as many 4-port 10Gbase-T switches on the market. Is this perfect, absolutely not. Is it much better than we thought it would be, yes. Let us get into why.

Here is an Amazon affiliate link to what we purchased.

Just as a quick preview, we are using our new IxNetwork setup where we can generate line rate 64B packets at over 1.7Tbps. Luckily, we have a 16-port dual PHY NOVUS10/1GE16DP, which allows us to test 1GbE/ 10GbE gear in 10Gbase-T or SFP+ combinations. A switch like this, we can either test using just that card, or we have the licenses enabling fan-out 4x 10G on our higher-end 8x 100GbE cards.

We are trying a few different views of our results, but there is a line rate 64B test just to show you what this switch is capable of.

Sodola SL-SWTGW2C48NS Hardware Overview

The switch is a 1U switch so this is is not the highest density solution out there. It could easily have been a half-width switch in size with denser port layouts.

The first four ports are 10Gbase-T ports, but they can also do 2.5GbE and 5GbE speeds. Some older switches (and our test setup) can only do 1GbE and 10GbE. This is nice if you simply have one or two lower-speed devices.

Next, there are eight SFP+ ports.

On one side, we get a fan.

On the other side, we get vents.

In the rear, there is not much going on.

We have a grounding point and an AC input.

We get two small rack ears in the package as well.

On the bottom, we get login informationbut not much else.

Getting inside the chassis, we see that there is a lot of empty room.

Here is a shot of the internal power supply.

There is also a 4-pin fan on the side.

Between the fan and the main switch chip we get a Realtek RTL8231.

There is another Realtek RTL8231 between the SFP+ and 10Gbase-T ports. These are usually used to add more GPIO pins within switches like these.

Here is the main switch heatsink surrounded by its DRAM and NAND.

We pulled this heatsink off after a bit of coaxing. It was secured by clips and tape. Here is what it looked like.

The main switch chip is a Realtek RTL9313, which we have seen in 12-port 10G switches before.

The 10Gbase-T side has another switch chip.

This one was stubborn enough that we did not take it off since it was affixed and we did not want to break it as we wanted to keep the switch for later testing.

Here is te back of the switch PCB.

Next, let us get to the management interface.