Foundry EdgeIron: Entry-Level Managed Edge Switches

01 /What EdgeIron was

EdgeIron was the value tier below FastIron. From around 2002 Foundry Networks sold it to customers who wanted a managed Gigabit or Fast Ethernet switch with VLANs and SNMP but did not need PoE, chassis redundancy or the IronWare feature set. The switches are generally understood to be OEM-sourced designs badged by Foundry, which explains why their firmware, CLI and web interface share nothing with the rest of the catalogue.

The line let Foundry quote a complete network, core to closet, at a price that the FastIron alone could not reach. It was aimed at schools, branch offices and small businesses, and the same hardware appeared under other labels from other vendors.

02 /Models people still find

03 /Why the user guides were so widely linked

Two PDFs, the combined 24G / 2402CF / 4802CF user guide and the later general EdgeIron guide, appear in an unusual number of inbound links to this domain. University IT departments installed EdgeIron switches in departmental closets and published setup notes that pointed at the PDF. Forum answers about VLAN configuration or a forgotten password did the same. Because the CLI matched no other Foundry document, the PDF was the only reference, so it was linked rather than paraphrased.

04 /Management differences from FastIron

An engineer used to IronWare finds EdgeIron unfamiliar. The CLI uses a different prompt hierarchy, different keywords for VLANs and link aggregation, and a web interface that was the primary management path for many buyers. Configuration files are not portable between the two families, and the default IP and password recovery procedures differ. IronView Network Manager could see EdgeIron devices through SNMP but managed them at a shallower level than FastIron.

Console# show system
Console# show version
Console# configure
Console(config)# vlan database
Console(config-vlan)# vlan 20 name staff media ethernet
Console# show vlan
Console# copy running-config startup-config

05 /Capabilities

Feature sets were typical of managed Layer 2 switches of the period: port-based and tagged VLANs, static and LACP trunks, spanning tree, port mirroring, IGMP snooping, rate limiting, SNMP and RMON groups. Some models added static routing between VLANs and basic access lists. There was no PoE on the mainstream models and no stacking. Firmware updates arrived through the Foundry support site until the acquisition and then stopped.

06 /Running one today

The 24G and the GS models are inexpensive managed Gigabit switches for a lab: single power supply, modest draw, and on some units a fan that can be swapped for a quieter one. They are adequate for VLAN segmentation and trunking practice. Expect no firmware updates, a web interface that modern browsers may render poorly, and management protocols (Telnet, HTTP, SNMPv1 and v2c) that should stay on an isolated network. For learning IronWare, buy a FastIron instead.