[nycbug-talk] switch advice?

[Jesse Callaway]

Layer 2 aka 'dumb switch' buyer's guide:

Reasonably good feature: dual power supplies
Great feature: jumbo frames

Reasonably good and Great are interchangable depending on your needs. 
If I was an old bastard I would say your mileage may vary or something 
cute like that. But it's not a car.

Netgear is the best high-end low-end stuff there is I think.

Go with the GS524T, I did and now I live in my own home and even have 
time to play tennis with the kids and do a little gardening. When I'm 
feeling guilty I call up at work and ask, "How's the network?"... wait 
that was when i had a job.... uh... anyway...
-------------------------------------------
Performance (64 byte packets)
Bandwidth: 48 Gbps (non-blocking)
Forward rate (1000 Mbps port):
    1,480,000 packet per sec
Forward rate (100 Mbps port):
    148,000 packet per sec
Forward rate (10 Mbps port):
    14,800 packet per sec
Latency (1000 to 1000 Mbps): 30 ?s max   <-- not so impressive
MAC addresses: 8,000                           <-- and how many ports?

Standards Compliance
IEEE 802.3i 10BASE-T Ethernet
IEEE 802.3u 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet
IEEE 802.3ab 1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE 802.3x Flow Control
--------------------------------------------

... I'm assuming there's no jumbo frame situation here, but I wouldn't 
worry about it. Best part is there is no management, and therefore no 
security risk. Dumb switches rule! The only reason to get anything with 
any more functionality than this one is if you want to make VLAN's. If 
you want to go home and have people like you, then don't make VLAN's. 
If you want a great network, then be my guest.

Switches are fun to put in. There's no downtime at all.


On Jul 13, 2004, at 1:24 AM, Isaac Levy wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Before, Pete gave me some great advice about gigabit soho swtiches, 
> but I've got a new question below,
>
> On May 19, 2004, at 7:54 AM, pete wright wrote:
>
>>> Was just wondering- am looking again at gigabit switches, and wanted 
>>> to ask you again via email what you and Jesse were talking about, 
>>> re. the 1mb packet thingie to look for in higher-end switches...
>>
>> yea no problem.  there are basicly two types of gig-e switches out 
>> there.  the cheaper versions use a MTU of 1500, which is the same MTU 
>> as normal 100/10 BaseT via cat5.  more expensive switches can use a 
>> 1500 MTU or what are called "Fat Packets."  This is an MTU of 9600.  
>> the benefit of larger MTU's is that you can send much more data in a 
>> single packet when compared to normal 1500 MTU packets.  this will 
>> speed up communication, while also reducing the overhead on the NIC 
>> and CPU.  an MTU is the Maximum Transfer Unit, i think...i forget 
>> what the acronym stands for.  but you get the idea.  last time i 
>> checked, 3Com was making these switches at a pretty reasonable price. 
>>  I use the el-cheapo linksys gig-e switches at work, and it's not too 
>> bad...
>
>
> So I'm looking to buy some network switches, and am totally stumped by 
> what's available out there.  (this totally isn't my forte').
>
> Basically, I've been looking at 12 and 24 port gigabit rackmount 
> switches, but am really not going to be taking serious advantage of 
> managed switches, and am pretty darned confused by the price scales-  
> Some of them are in the $500 range on the low end, but what seems to 
> me to be the same specs, can go over $3k, (some 12/16 port unmanaged 
> gigabit swtiches going for 3 times other 24 port switches?)  Where's 
> the line for quality really at?
>
> Gah!  Does anyone have any good experiences with either end of the 
> spectrum?  I'd be looking to buy 4 of them, and would really rather 
> they be cheap to replace due to past experiences, though of course 
> everyone wants something solid for nothing... :)
>
> Thanks for any info or even just urls!
>
> Rocket-
> .ike
>
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