Switch vs. third NIC

[byronhawkins]

I'm adding a second server to a small home LAN that is mainly used for a distributed audio application (Vienna Symphonic Library). The software requires a direct gigabit ethernet between each server and the main workstation. Is it possible to get a switch for under $100 that reliably maintains gigabit throughput for multiple machines?

Other details about the configuration:

■ The servers don't need to communicate with each other.
■ The software recommends using a switch instead of a router for better throughput--total source audio data is about 1TB, so the traffic volume can approach gigabit capacity on each connection.
■ The switch would be connected to the workstation's second NIC, so internet traffic would not interfere.
■ It seems unlikely that I would add a third server anytime soon, but I've said that kind of thing before...
■ Equipment noise can be a factor--the machines are in a separate room from the music studio, but only separated by an ordinary bedroom door, so a switch with a very loud fan is not really an option.

Suggestions appreciated!

 

[LCmatko757]

Yes you can get a gigabit switch with 16 Ports,Well its D-Link but i have it.And its works great not a single problem with my servers or my pcs and workstations
The model is: DGS-1016D/E

 

[Solandri]

The key words you are looking for are backplane (or fabric) bandwidth, and whether the switch is non-blocking.

Backplane bandwidth determines the switch's total simultaneous traffic capacity. So if a gigabit had just 2 Gbps of backplane capacity, it would only be able to handle 1 Gbps of transmission between two ports at a time (1 Gbps from a port, 1 Gbps to another port = 2 Gbps total).

"Non-blocking" in particular means the switch is capable of transferring data at the full 1 Gbps on all of its ports at the same time.

This is one of the reasons the higher-end and enterprise-class switches cost more.

 

[bill001g]

Take your pick, the vast majority of switches are what is called wire speed. This means on a gig switch all ports can send 1gbit and receive 1gbit all at the same time. I doubt there is a realistic method to really use that much capacity.

What you need to do is read the fine print and look for the key words wirespeed or nonblocking. Many also will outright state the total backplane capacity which needs to be 2 times the number of ports in gig. So a 8 port gig switch that is wirespeed would have a capacity of 16g.

Even many of the $25 4 port switches have that ability.

More than likely your pc/server will bottleneck things well before the switch will. I suspect you will need nowhere near 1g of capacity anyway. People running 4k uncompressed video are not even close to using 1g and audio use only a tiny fraction.

I would be very suspect of the software manufactures recommendation when they say a switch is always better than a router. When you look at what is inside the router the lan ports on many routers used exactly the same chip that a 5 port switch uses so they will perform exactly the same between machines on the lan.