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There's no doubt that the corporate intranet is here to stay. Higher utilization of Internal networks demands a healthy combination of routing and switching to keep your network running in tip-top condition. To get you moving on your intranet, we tested three products at our University of Wisconsin labs that provide scalable switching solutions with the enhanced ability to route OSI Layer 3 traffic.
More than just a router slapped into an existing switch, the Layer 3 switch employs high-powered ASICs and advanced switching techniques to move Layer 3 packets smoothly through a Layer 2 device. We tested products from Cabletron Systems, Case Technology and 3Com Corp. Each solution offers a distinct approach to routing Layer 3 traffic across the switching domain. The Layer 3 switch is an extremely efficient way to address your intranet routing issues, combining highspeed routing with minimal trade-offs.
VLAN Support One unifying feature of the switches we tested is virtual LAN (VLAN) capabilities. Until now, adding VLAN features to your network meant sacrificing connectivity among segments. However, with fast, integrated routing built into the switch, VLANs have become a practical tool for segmenting networks.
Each of the three switches we tested is targeted for a specific market. Some switches behave like active routers, making them look like a typical router to the external network; others use the passive router implementation, switching traffic directly to its destination without performing the routeadvertising functions of a traditional router. Your needs will dictate the features to look for.
Cabletron SYstems Ethernet MMAC-Plus SmartSwitch
If you're shopping for an enterprise installation, you can't afford to pass up Cabletron Systems' SmartSwitch line. We tested the largest model in this line, the Cabletron Ethernet MMAC-Plus. It should be noted that the entire SmartSwitch line offers the same functionality as the MMAC-Plus.
When it came to performance, we couldn't bring the SmartSwitch down. We established 10 full-duplex conversations over Ethernet, both locally and between two switches, and the Cabletron switch never blinked an eye, giving us 297,600 packets per second (pps)-the equivalent of 20 line-speed Ethernet streams routed simultaneously.
Packet Tracking The heart of the Cabletron solution relies on the switch's ability to keep track of every packet that comes into a port and its destination. This means...