Looking for switch recommendations ...

[Don Bowman]

From: Marc G. Fournier [mailto:scrappy at hub.org]
> One thing I hate about comparison shopping for computers ... there are
> sooooo many options :(
> 
> What is the difference between Layer2 and Layer3, and what does that
> affect?
> 
> I see the HP Procurve 2626 (I don't need 50 ports yet) for 
> ~$600 on the
> web ... while I can pick up the Dell PowerConnect 3324 is ~$500 ...
> 
> How do I compare the two?  They seem to both use different 
> terminologies
> for what I'd guess are the same thing:
> 
> HP:
> Throughput: 2650 - 10.1 mpps (64-byte packets) 2626 - 6.6 
> mpps (64-byte packets)
> Switching capacity: 2650 - 13.6 Gbps 2626 - 9.6 Gbps
> 
> Dell:
> 	Switch Fabric Capacity 8.8 Gb/s
> 	Forwarding Rate 6.5 Mpps
> 
> So, in both cases, the HP  is faster, but ... is that 6.6mpps 
> "per port"
> (ie. the pp?) ... right now, I'm seeing max of around 3Mps going out a
> server, with average being well below 1 ... so I can't see 
> hitting that
> high any time soon ...
> 
> Based on the #s for throughput, I can't see a big advantage of HP over
> Dell to warrant the extra cost, but I see nothing on Dell about the
> Layer2/3 stuff ... but not sure what that gives either ...
> 
> Price wise, both the HP and Dell versions look reasonable, 
> and I think the
> Dell is easier for me to get in Panama (I know there is a 
> local office for
> them there) ...
> 
> I've had one + for Dell ... does anyone have any caveats 
> against them?  Or
> kudos too?

Gigabit ethernet has a maximum rate of ~1.5Mpps. This is
millions of packets per second. Your server is likely
3Mbps, which if you figure the average packet size is ~400
bytes, is more like 1kpps.

If you are not looking for layer 3 (routing), but just
a switch, then look @ something like the dlink or linksys(cisco)
layer 2 offers, compared vs e.g. a cisco cat2970.
DGS-3224TG is what i use. Something like the linksys
SR2024 is probably fine.