Comparison of Huawei S5731 Switch: S5731-S vs. S5731-H

Huawei S5700 series gigabit enterprise switches (S5700 for short) are next-generation energy-saving switches developed by Huawei to meet the demand for high-bandwidth access and Ethernet multi-service aggregation. Based on the

cutting-edge hardware and Huawei Versatile Routing Platform (VRP) software, the S5700 provides a large switching capacity and high-density GE ports to implement 10 Gbit/s upstream transmissions. The S5700 is for use in various enterprise network scenarios. The S5700 is easy to install and maintain, reducing workloads for network planning, construction, and maintenance. The S5700 uses advanced reliability, security, and energy conservation technologies, helping enterprise and customers build a next generation IT network.

Huawei LAN Access switches including: Huawei CloudEngine S5731, Huawei CloudEngine S5732 and Huawei CloudEngine S5735.

In this article, we will elaborate Huawei CloudEngine S5731 firstly, which contains two series S5731-S and the S5731-H, and also compare these two series.

1. S5731-S and the S5731-H switches has the same networking and applications

Large-Scale Enterprise Campus Network:

CloudEngine S5731 series switches can be deployed at the access layer of a campus network to build a high-performance and highly reliable enterprise network.

Small- or Medium-scale Enterprise Campus Network:

CloudEngine S5731 series switches can be deployed at the aggregation layer of a campus network to build a high-performance, multi-service, and highly reliable enterprise network.

Small-scale Enterprise Campus Network:

With powerful aggregation and routing capabilities of CloudEngine S5731 series switches make them suitable for use as core switches in a small-scale enterprise network. Two or more S5731 switches use iStack technology to ensure high relability. They provide a variety of access control policies to achieve centralized management and simplify configuration.

Application on a MAN:

CloudEngine S5731 series switches can be deployed at the access layer of a MAN(Metropolitan Area Network) to build a high-performance, multi-service, and highly reliable ISP MAN network.

Application in Public Cloud:

CloudCampus Solution is a network solution suite based on Huawei public cloud. CloudEngine S5731 series switches can be located at the access layer.

2. CloudEngine S5731-S Series Switches

CloudEngine S5731-S series switches are standard gigabit access switches that provide all-GE electrical ports and fixed 10GE uplink ports.

CloudEngine S5731-S series switches are next-generation gigabit access switches. Built on Huawei's unified Versatile Routing Platform (VRP), CloudEngine S5731-S switches provide enhanced Layer 3 features, simple O&M, Intelligent Stack (iStack), flexible Ethernet networking, and mature IPv6 features. These feature-rich switches are widely used in scenarios such as enterprise campus access and aggregation, as well as data center access.

CloudEngine S5731-S including 4 types of models:

Product Model	S5731-S24T4X	S5731-S48T4X	S5731-S24P4X	S5731-S48P4X
Forwarding Performance	96 Mpps	125 Mpps	96 Mpps	125 Mpps
Switching Capacity2	128 Gbps/672 Gbps	176 Gbps/672 Gbps	128 Gbps/672 Gbps	176 Gbps/672 Gbps
Fixed Ports	24 x 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports, 4 x 10 Gig SFP+	48 x 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports, 4 x 10 Gig SFP+	24 x 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports, 4 x 10 Gig SFP+	48 x 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports, 4 x 10 Gig SFP+
PoE+	Not supported	Not supported	Supported	Supported

3. CloudEngine S5731-H Series Switches

CloudEngine S5731-H series switches are brand-new enhanced gigabit access switches that provide all-GE electrical downlink ports, fixed 10GE uplink ports, and one extended slot.

CloudEngine S5731-H delivers gigabit connectivity at the aggregation or access layer in large and midsize campuses, at the core layer in branches and small campuses, and at the access layer in data centers. Integrating native WLAN AC capabilities to support up to 1024 WLAN APs, CloudEngine S5731-H enables you to converge your wired and wireless networks for simplified operations. It also offers free mobility to deliver consistent user experience and VXLAN-based virtualization to create a multi-purpose network. With built-in security probes, CloudEngine S5731-H supports abnormal traffic detection, Encrypted Communications Analytics (ECA), and network-wide threat deception.

CloudEngine S5731-H including 4 types of models:

Product Model	S5731-H24T4XC	S5731-H48T4XC	S5731-H24P4XC	S5731-H48P4XC
Forwarding Performance	51 Mpps	125 Mpps	87 Mpps	125 Mpps
Switching Capacity2	288 Gbps/672 Gbps	336 Gbps/672 Gbps	288 Gbps/672 Gbps	336 Gbps/672 Gbps
Fixed Ports	24 × 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports, 4 × 10 Gig SFP+	48 × 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports, 4 × 10 Gig SFP+	24 × 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports, 4 × 10 Gig SFP+	48 × 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports, 4 × 10 Gig SFP+
PoE+	Not supported	Not supported	Supported	Supported
Extended Slots	One extended slot, support 2 x 40GE QSFP+, 2 x 25GE SFP28 or 8 x 10GE SFP+, 8*10GE Base-T cards

4. As two series S5731-S and S5731-H have similar specifications, there are still some main differences between them:

Series	S5731-S	S5731-H
Scenarios	Enterprise campus access and aggregation, data center access	Enterprise midsize campuses aggregation or access layer in large, the core layer in branches and small campuses,  the access layer in data centers
Forwarding Performance	96 Mpps 125 Mpps	51 Mpps 87 Mpps 125 Mpps
Switching Capacity2	128 Gbps/672 Gbps 176 Gbps/672 Gbps	288 Gbps/672 Gbps 336 Gbps/672 Gbps
Extended Slots	No	1 extended slot

In summary, as in the above contents, we can tell that S5731-H has better performance than S5731-S, but choose the right switch according to specific needs and budget is the most important.