High Availability and Reliability
The 5000 Series switches feature a modular fan and power supply design for a high availability architecture. The hot-swappable design means that fans and power supplies can be replaced without affecting switch operation. Load sharing enables both power supplies to evenly distribute load to increase reliability and lifetime. Meanwhile, 1+1 redundancy minimizes downtime in case of a single power supply failure.

Open Networking
The 5000 Series switches support open networking, providing IT professionals with innovative third-party operating systems and software options. This lowers costs by separating software from hardware and increases network agility and flexibility. With support for standards-based tools and standards-based applications, open networking simplifies scalability and future-proofs the network.

Flexibility and Versatility
The 5000 Series switches are available in a variety of high-capacity interface combinations, including 10G, 25G, 40G, and 100G ports to accommodate the scale and requirements of data centers. Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) support means the switches can be easily integrated in existing network ecosystems using a variety of supported third-party Network Operating Systems (NOSs) for optimal compatibility.

Cost-Efficient with Dedicated Support
Compared to traditional switches, the 5000 Series offer a more cost-efficient solution through a lower initial purchasing cost combined with a reduced long term Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). The 5000 Series switches feature front-to-back and back-to-front airflow which optimizes air circulation inside the rack and facilitates the building of energy-efficient data centers by separating the hot and cold aisles. The switches also feature built-in smart fans; internal heat sensors monitor and detect temperature changes, and react accordingly by utilizing different fan speeds for different temperatures, optimizing power consumption.

Data Center and Virtualization Features
Data Center Bridging (DCB) is an essential set of enhancements to Ethernet for networking in data center environments. The D-Link OS for the 5000 Series switches supports several core components of Data Center Bridging (DCB) such as IEEE 802.1Qbb, IEEE 802.1Qaz, IEEE 802.1Qau, and VXLAN. IEEE 802.1Qbb (Priority-based Flow Control) provides flow control on specific priority levels to ensure there is no data loss during network congestion.

Complete Layer 2/3 Functionality
The 5000 Series switches feature a complete L2 and L3 feature set to meet the demands of data center applications. Layer 2 features include L2 switching, L2 multicast, advanced Quality of Service (QoS), and robust security features. Meanwhile, the 5000 Series offers advanced L3 routing for enterprise integration, including OSPF, BGP, Graceful Restart, Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD), and L3 multicast.