Single switch or multiple?

[tac]

hi, my small business has grown over the years to include 10 computers and 8 production printers. i have always just purchased another 8 port switch so i now have 3 switches. does it make sense to purchase a 24 port switch to handle network traffic or does adding more small switches make sense? is there any advantages or disadvantages to one way or another?

 

[Psychoteddy]

Best practices tell me to use as few points of failure as possible. The more switches and other devices you have, the longer it can take to track down a problem if it occurs. I would recommend an unmanaged 24 port switch for your office (Netgear makes some good ones).

Additionally, having too many of these switches can eventually bog down a network. Not much, but it may be noticeable if the trend of adding small ones piggybacked off of one another continues.