Dell PowerSwitch N3224T-ON 1GbE Switch

The Dell PowerSwitch N3224T-ON is a 1RU campus access switch with 24 auto-sensing 10/100/1000Mb RJ45 ports, four 10GbE SFP+ uplinks and two 100GbE QSFP28 rear stacking ports, on a 528 Gbps non-blocking fabric forwarding at 733 Mpps.

It is the 24-port member of Dell's current campus generation, and its distinguishing feature is that halving the port count costs you nothing structural: it keeps the full 400 Gbps stacking architecture, the full Advanced Layer 3 stack and the dual hot-swappable power supplies of its 48-port siblings.

The 24-port switch that is not a cut-down switch

Most vendors treat the 24-port model in a campus family as the budget variant - fewer ports, and quietly fewer features: reduced stacking, a fixed power supply, a smaller routing table, a licence tier that withholds BGP. That is not what happens here.

The N3224T-ON carries the same two rear 100GbE QSFP28 stacking ports and the same 400 Gbps of stacking bandwidth as the 48-port models, and joins the same twelve-unit stack under a single IP address. It carries the same routing scale: 1,024 static and 8,158 dynamic IPv4 routes, 4,094 VLANs, 6,144 ARP entries, 16-way ECMP across 1,024 groups. It runs the same Advanced Layer 3 - BGP, VRF-lite, BFD, PIM, OSPFv2/v3 - with no licence tier gating it. It takes the same dual hot-swappable 80PLUS Platinum power supplies.

What you give up is 24 access ports and some forwarding headroom: 528 Gbps of fabric and 733 Mpps against the 48-port model's 576 Gbps and 800 Mpps. Both are non-blocking for their own port count, so the difference is capacity, not behaviour.

Where a 24-port model is the right answer

Three situations, mostly.

The small closet. A floor with thirty drops does not need a 48-port switch, and buying one anyway means paying for and powering 18 ports that will never see a cable. At 201W maximum draw and 686 BTU/hr - the lowest in the family - the N3224T-ON is also the easiest model to put in a closet with marginal ventilation.

The branch site. Remote offices need the same feature set as head office and a fraction of the ports. Because this switch is not feature-reduced, a branch can run the identical configuration template, the identical VRF layout and the identical 802.1X policy as the main campus. USB auto-configuration matters here too: you deploy a switch by inserting a USB key rather than by sending someone who knows the CLI.

The stack you will grow. Because it stacks with the rest of the family at 400 Gbps, starting with a 24-port unit is not a dead end. Add a N3248TE-ON to the stack when the floor fills up and the two present as one logical switch with one configuration and one IP address.

Both airflow directions

The N3224T-ON is one of only three models in the family - with the N3248TE-ON and the N3248X-ON - for which Dell offers the fan module in both directions. It can therefore be built as I/O Panel to PSU (standard) or PSU to I/O Panel (reverse).

The choice follows the rack, not preference. A switch racked with its ports toward the cold aisle takes standard airflow; one racked with its ports toward the hot aisle - common where switch ports sit on the same side as server NICs to shorten cable runs - takes reverse, or it recirculates its own exhaust. Power supplies and fan modules are direction-specific parts, so this is decided at build time. Tell us which way your row faces when you request a quote.

OS6, ONIE and licensing on the used market

The switch runs Dell EMC Networking OS6, the campus operating system common to the whole N-series - the same CLI, web GUI, SNMP behaviour and Dell OpenManage Network Manager integration you already use elsewhere in the estate. It is an ONIE platform, so an alternative network operating system can be installed if that is your standard.

A Dell software entitlement is bound to the unit's service tag and to a Dell account and does not automatically transfer on the secondary market. A refurbished unit may arrive with a working image installed and without an active entitlement or a support contract. We do not promise a transferred Dell licence, a software subscription or a support contract with a refurbished switch. Tell us what you intend to run and we will confirm the state of a specific unit before it ships.

Common questions

Does it stack with the 48-port models?

The family is designed to stack over the rear 100GbE ports at 400 Gbps, up to twelve units under one IP address, and Dell quotes mixed stack densities across 1/2.5/5/10GbE and 25GbE port types. Mixed-model stacking depends on the OS version and the features you need - confirm the exact combination with us before ordering.

Does it do PoE?

No. The 24-port PoE models in this family are the N3224P-ON at 802.3at 30W and the N3224PX-ON at 802.3bt up to 90W; neither is currently listed here. For 48-port PoE, see the N3248PXE-ON, or the entry-level N1148P-ON.

Is there a fibre version?

Dell builds one - the N3224F-ON, with 24x 1G SFP instead of copper - but it is not currently listed here. Ask us if you need it.

Are the two 100GbE ports usable as uplinks?

Dell describes them as integrated rear stacking ports. Plan uplinks around the four front-panel 10GbE SFP+ ports.

Choosing within the N3200-ON and N2200-ON campus families

Availability, condition and how to buy

This model is supplied to order. Availability, airflow direction, power-supply count and optics loadout are confirmed at quotation, so use the quote request on this page and tell us the configuration you need.

Every unit is refurbished, professionally reconditioned, powered up, inspected and functionally tested before it ships, and it ships with warranty coverage. If you need a specific firmware state or matched units for a stack, say so with your request.

Specifications