Gigabit network

[KickTheBucket]

Hi guys,

I'm just looking for a little advice from people who are in the know how with regards to gigabit networking.
I know that cat5e cable will run a gigabit network just fine, while cat6 cable is more shielded and more future proof.

I'm moving shop, and am looking to put a gig network in. I'm probably gonna use cat5e cable for the reasons mentioned above, possibly cat6 as it's not TOO expensive. The wallboxes for cat6 are velly expensive, so i'll stick with the cat5 ones even if i DO use cat6 cable.
I know i need to get a gig switch (duh). Does anyone have any suggestions as to which brand to get? I'm probably looking at a 24port unmanaged. As far as i know they're around R2500 (give or take).
My one main question: I've got a Netgear wireless ADSL router with 4x10/100 ports. Will this be a problem in terms of speed, as it handles my DHCP and NAT?

Any ideas/suggestions are welcome.

 

[sn3rd]

What do you mean by "problem" ?

 

[howardb]

A Gigabit switch/hub should be backward-compatible with 10/100 hardware - it'll run at the reduced speed if the hardware on the setup is not capable of running at 1000kbps - AFAIK.
If it's in-line with the 10/100 router, then you will have reduced speed...

My setup is very simple - I currently have my NAS box connected to my main PC via the onboard Gigabit Ethernet ports, using a CAT6 patch cable, and it's pretty quick - the ADSL router is connected to my other onboard 10/100 Ethernet port on my main PC - totally different channels, one for internal and the other for external...

 

[FrancTheTank]

Only the connections to the through the router will be slow, while connections between nodes connected to the giga-switch will be fast. (and connections to the Nat will obviously be 100Mbps.

 

[FrancTheTank]

....setup is not capable of running at 1000kbps - AFAIK.

Its 1000Mbps, not so? (=1Gbps), hence gigabit network

 

[The_Unbeliever]

I would prefer to use Cat6e from the start as Cat5 will work, but later on problems will start to creep in.

FWIW I've heard that gig ethernet does not have much in the line of error-detection protocols built in - so you'll need to ensure that the cabling are gigabit certified.

 

[howardb]

Wavestone in Pretoria has the following, but I think you need to be a registered dealer:
TL-SG1024 - RETAIL - 24-port 10/100/1000 Unmanaged Gigabit Rackmount Switch @ R999 + VAT
Not sure of the make.

Drive Control in JHB has an SMC model listed at R2030 + VAT - you need to be a registered dealer with them though...

Are you looking for a rackmount or a desktop model of Gigabit switch/hub?

 

[KickTheBucket]

What do you mean by "problem" ?

Will the entire network run only at 10/100 as the DHCP and NAT server (i.e. router) are linked to the Gigabit switch at 10/100?

 

[KickTheBucket]

Wavestone in Pretoria has the following, but I think you need to be a registered dealer:
TL-SG1024 - RETAIL - 24-port 10/100/1000 Unmanaged Gigabit Rackmount Switch @ R999 + VAT
Not sure of the make.

Drive Control in JHB has an SMC model listed at R2030 + VAT - you need to be a registered dealer with them though...

Are you looking for a rackmount or a desktop model of Gigabit switch/hub?

At the moment, probably just a desktop one. I know you can get a Zyxel from Rectron for cheap. But will there be a noticable performance in going for something better like a 3com?

 

[howardb]

Its 1000Mbps, not so? (=1Gbps), hence gigabit network

 

[howardb]

At the moment, probably just a desktop one. I know you can get a Zyxel from Rectron for cheap. But will there be a noticable performance in going for something better like a 3com?

I don't think you'll notice a difference in performance between the different brands - the performance will probably be in the cables you decide to use - cheap cables equal cheap connections in most cases, and I'd recommend going with the best that you can afford, either CAT5 or CAT6.

Brands are a personal choice and affordability plays a large role at the end of the day. I usually stick with the more established names like Planet, 3com, D-Link, etc, as the hardware/software seems to be very quick and easy to set up, and they also have excellent after-sales support.

 

[Stoner]

As the others mentioned any device connected to the 10/100 ports will run at reduced speed.
Any device connected directly to the gigabit switch will naturally run at full speed if that device also has gigabit capabilty.

As with any PC upgrade the same goes for networks. If you want to upgrade to a very fast CPU then the graphics card, RAM or motherboard etc. must be upgraded to the same performance level to reap the benefits.

No point installing a network with fast hardware and some where in the line have slower hardware running.

Ideally I would suggest running Cat6 but nothing less than Cat5e.
Also upgrade your router to something like the RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N Router Gigabit Edition (WNR854T)
Abviously also make sure that anything you want to connect is gigabit capable.

10/100 devices are all backward capatable so dont worry if something does not have gigabit support. Just remember the performace penalty.

As for brand preference I would go for Netgear. Personnally I have had no problems what so ever with their products.

But what ever brand you choose the best practice is to keep all the hardware the same. From the same manufacture.

Good luck!

 

[MadMailMan]

What are you going to be pushing around this network? Unless you shift a large amount of data around, often, you wont see a HUGE performance increase. I know everybody is going to say but giga is 10 times faster than mega. I know! But if you are only going to be shifting a bit of data around and or running client/server apps, surfing the net rather go with a good quality branded, managed 10/100mb switch. A properly configured, with QoS, will server you better in the long run than a cheap gigabit switch.

I'm going to get a load of hate-mail for this post.

 

[ghalied]

Hp Procurve

 

[Mean_Monster]

I agree with MadMailMan, If you are just going to be browsing the Internet which can currently only do 4Mb/s you really don't need a Gig Switch as that is not where your bottleneck is. Your ADSL Router can definately do the 4Mb/s on its 100 Mb/s ports Also you really need to shift huge files around to really see performance difference between Mega and Giga.

 

[KickTheBucket]

Yeah guys, don't worry... i'm not going to install a gig network to surf the net We do large amounts of data copying (backing up mostly) over our network, which is why i'm looking at decreasing copy times.

 

[MadMailMan]

Cool beans. What you should look at is a 3Com, Cisco or HP "core" switch. That's what these babies are made for. They will cost you, a lot in fact, but they have built-in Qos and they can handle jumbo frames. You put one of these in a flat out race with the SMC's, plannet's or one of those and you'll see up to a 30% performance difference. You will only change your swicthes once every 5 to 7 years so rather spend a chunk of cash and get quality ones.

Also make sure you have really good network cards in your servers or PC's that you will connect to the swicth. I had one dodgy network card in a server farm of 22 servers and it ground the entire gigabit network to a 10 meg network.

Good luck!

 

[sn3rd]

Will the entire network run only at 10/100 as the DHCP and NAT server (i.e. router) are linked to the Gigabit switch at 10/100?

It depends on the topology. If you structure it so that these slower devices are inline, then you will have reduced speed.

 

[sn3rd]

Wavestone in Pretoria has the following, but I think you need to be a registered dealer:
TL-SG1024 - RETAIL - 24-port 10/100/1000 Unmanaged Gigabit Rackmount Switch @ R999 + VAT
Not sure of the make.

Drive Control in JHB has an SMC model listed at R2030 + VAT - you need to be a registered dealer with them though...

Are you looking for a rackmount or a desktop model of Gigabit switch/hub?

TP-Link

 

[sn3rd]

As the others mentioned any device connected to the 10/100 ports will run at reduced speed.
Any device connected directly to the gigabit switch will naturally run at full speed if that device also has gigabit capabilty.

As with any PC upgrade the same goes for networks. If you want to upgrade to a very fast CPU then the graphics card, RAM or motherboard etc. must be upgraded to the same performance level to reap the benefits.

No point installing a network with fast hardware and some where in the line have slower hardware running.

Ideally I would suggest running Cat6 but nothing less than Cat5e.
Also upgrade your router to something like the RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N Router Gigabit Edition (WNR854T)
Abviously also make sure that anything you want to connect is gigabit capable.

10/100 devices are all backward capatable so dont worry if something does not have gigabit support. Just remember the performace penalty.

As for brand preference I would go for Netgear. Personnally I have had no problems what so ever with their products.

But what ever brand you choose the best practice is to keep all the hardware the same. From the same manufacture.

Good luck!

I agree. This helps to ensure interoperability and (often) helps improve performance.