The QNAP QSW-M7308R-4X is the company’s 4-port 100GbE and 8-port 25GbE switch. It features a Marvell switch chip and a different management interface. At the same time, it retains a half-width form factor that can be mounted at a desk or side-by-side in a rack making it surprisingly versatile. With newer servers, NAS units like the one we built for STH Studio storage, and even mini PCs like the Minisforum MS-02 Ultra, including 25GbE SFP28 ports, 25GbE/ 100GbE networking is becoming more widespread even outside of the traditional data center. Let us get to our review.
If you just want to find these online, here is an Amazon affiliate link and a B&H Photo affiliate link. Note we bought this one to use in the lab, and finally decided to review it so affiliate links help us buy more for independent reviews.
QNAP QSW-M7308R-4X External Hardware Overview
The switch itself is only 43.3 x 207 x 248.8mm, making it relatively compact. More importantly, it is a half-width switch so you can put two side-by-side in 1U of rack space. There is a kit the SP-EAR-QSW2FOR1-01 (affiliate link) to mount two side-by-side QNAP switches in 1U. I wish it came in the package since for a few dollars it is more of a pain to remember to order than if the metal just came in each box.
On the front, we get four QSFP28 100GbE ports. These support breakout mode into 4x 25GbE links.
There are also eight SFP28 25GbE ports.
On the side, there is not much going on.
Make that on both sides.
On the rear, we get an AC input, two fan vents, and then a 1GbE management and console port.
For a lot of folks, it is going to be easier to do the initial setup on the higher-speed network ports, but these are here. Since this has a web management interface, we actually just set it up using a 25GbE port.
Included in the box is the hardware for mounting one of these units into 1U of rack space.
Realistically, the switch does not use that much power, and is quiet enough that you can put it on a desk. That is why this switch gets rubber feet on the bottom.
Next, let us get inside to see how this works, including the Marvell switch chip.
