Gigabit Worthwhile?

[zed]

I need to replace one of my network switches. They're all 10/100 now. Would there be any benefit to going to gigabit switches? I run a client/server GB-PVR setup and it seems to work OK now (except for the flakey switch). Not sure if my wiring is cat-5 or cat-5e (what's the difference?). Any advice will be appreciated...

Forgot to mention...all my hardware will (supposedly) do gigabit...

[imagn]

From what i understand

If you connected everything to the gigabit switch, with you would have more bandwith going from the server to your clients,
Think of it this way you can have (theoretically) 10 10/100 clients being served at 100mbs from a gigabit server over gigabit switch with no performance issues running at the same time (atleast this is my understanding)

I think if you had a 10/100 switch and tried to do the same thing your bandwidth to each client would be limited.

Also

Cat 5 is rated 10/100 reliable
Cat 5e is rated 10/100/1000 (although i am not sure giga is reliable)
There is also cat 6 wish is 10/100/1000 reliablly

[mvallevand]

If you have a really high grade NAS I think that would "demand" going with a Gb switch, just so you can get hard disk-like speed. Otherwise my feeling is it depends on how much HD video streaming you do and the aggregate bandwidth to and from your server. Two PCH clients alone can hit 80 Mbs so you can forget adding an HDHR or a NAS to that mix at 100 Mbs.

Martin

[InVermont]

For the most part, Cat5 can handle gigabit, at least on short runs. I've seen issues going really long though.
Cat5E/Cat6 are rated for gigabit.

My question is why not gigabit? Are 10/100 switches that much cheaper?

[ACTCMS]

For the most part, Cat5 can handle gigabit, at least on short runs. I've seen issues going really long though.
Cat5E/Cat6 are rated for gigabit.

My question is why not gigabit? Are 10/100 switches that much cheaper?

Exactly like he said... my longest Cat5 cable is about 20 meters and it works fine. And you have no idea the time you save backing-up or moving big mpegs over the network...

[zed]

Yeah, that makes sense. Gigabit switches seem to be 50% to 100% more than 10/100's at the local Fry's but it looks like 8-port units can be had for around $50 so it's not a bank-breaker.

Thanks for the input...

[ilovejedd]

If you're going gigabit, may I suggest one of the ProCurve switches? It's a bit more expensive (I got my 1400-8G for $80), but the warranty's excellent (not that you'd need it).

A question, from my understanding, if you have say a 5-port gigabit switch, it should be able to provide the full 1Gbps per port, meaning it can support 5Gbps of traffic barring any efficiencies. From this discussion, it would seem that a gigabit switch can only support 1Gbps combined bandwidth. So, which is it?

[AndyPro]

A question, from my understanding, if you have say a 5-port gigabit switch, it should be able to provide the full 1Gbps per port, meaning it can support 5Gbps of traffic barring any efficiencies. From this discussion, it would seem that a gigabit switch can only support 1Gbps combined bandwidth. So, which is it?

This all depends on the switch.... what is known as switching fabric. The bandwidth availaible to the switch could be anywhere from a gigabit or less, to over a terrabit. This is usually one of the big things that makes ex[ensive unmanaged switches expensive. Check the fabric bandwidth and that'll tell you the maximum speed throught he switch to all ports combined. also remmember that gigabit ethernet will not move a gigabit of your data per second. Theres actually quite a bit of overhead in the equation, especially with microsoft software calling the shots.

--Andy

[whurlston]

A switch (theoretically) supports it rated speed in full duplex mode on each port. A gigabit switch is two gigabits per port (1 Gb up and 1 Gb down). A hub would have the bandwidth divided between each connected port. The bottleneck to which mvallevand and imagn were refering was the server. Although the switch will route more data between ports, it is all coming from a single port: the server. 1 server serving 2 PCH can hit 80Mbps. Add a HDHomeRun and you can have up to 160Mbps traffic on the server port but only 40 on each PCH port and 80 on the HDHR port.

[mvallevand]

A switch (theoretically) supports it rated speed in full duplex mode on each port. A gigabit switch is two gigabits per port (1 Gb up and 1 Gb down).

Good point whurlston, you actually might even be able to support two PCH's and one HDHR running full duplex.

Martin