Designed for reliability, the feature-packed 48-port 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4300 is at the top of the Layer 2 heap and can be quickly deployed right out of the box. On the low side of our high-end category, it's not directly comparable, feature for feature, to the Foundry FastIron 4802 or other Layer 3 switches. Like these switches, though, the SuperStack provides high-reliability features. These include spannng tree protocol support and link aggregation, as well as hardware features such as dual fans, a power supply engineered with redundancy, and DC power input for backup.

3Com was an early innovator in the managed-switch business, and this family of products offers Web-based management of multiple devices from a single IP address, and a time-tested interface in the provided 3Com Network Superviser software. The operational features of the switch include VLAN configuration and traffic prioritization. Connection flexibility is provided through two expansion ports that accept single- or dual-port modules for Gigabit Ethernet over either fiber or copper cable.