""Steven Aiello"" wrote in message ... > So I know there is a big difference in the cost and performance of > Cisco (even lower end models) and let say a netgear switch. But where > do the difference lay? I know that there are memory issues and back > plain differences in these 2 classes of switches. But how do I find out > what a lower cost switch will perform like. I was doing some bench > marking on a NetGear 100Mb switch, between a large file transfer off a > Win2k Server and a client. The through put was only a few Meg a best. > The NIC in the server is a Gbit NIC and shouldn't be over whelmed by a > simple file transfer. (I was running this while every one else was out > of office so I know that's not an issue). I know that with Ethernet > there is collisions and the like so I may not get true 100Mb performance > but the results were horrible. What should I look for even in lower > cost switches to be sure I get at least decent performance out of them?
D-link makes the cheapest 8-port 10/100/1000 switch out there (as low as $80). SMC, Netgear, and Linksys (as well as others) also make switches close to those prices. Some Cat6 cabling and some cheap 1000BaseTX NIC's will do a lot more than upgrading to any Cisco switch at the low-end. However, at the high-end of this (if you're really trying to push over 600Mbps full-duplex on a single host), you really want to consider things like Jumbo frames and port buffer capacity, etc. Cisco is one of the better manufacturers at the high end of any Ethernet platform. Others to consider include Juniper Networks, Force-10 Networks, and maybe Foundry or Extreme or even Riverstone, Nortel, or Enterasys. There are often tests of switches and other network devices on http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/. I've seen them use Chariot, but equally clever would be tests (online, public, or private) using industry standard network test equipment including Spirent Smartbits, IXIA (who also makes Chariot), and Agilent RT of all types and different tests by different people for different scenarios. There are actually no collisions in full-duplex mode Ethernet (and if you are worried about performance, that would definitely help the most, network-wise). I guess I don't understand the problem you are trying to solve. It sounds like most anything would be overkill, but an $80 port 10/100/1000 switch is cheap, and I would go that route in most scenarios, and then move on to TCP or other application performance tuning (do a seach on Google for `TCP performance tuning' along with your operating system). Upgrading to a more expensive switch would seem like a waste. Using Intel 10/100/1000BaseTX NIC's is also a really good idea, as that name is associated with performance (and cheaper cost). -dre Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=75004&t=74987 -------------------------------------------------- **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html
