10/100/1000 Switches & Ethernet Cards... Need Guidance

[motolube]

Guys, I am trying to upgrade my 10/100 switch and 10/100 Ethernet cards in the office and I am looking for the Best bang for the buck 10/100/1000. I don't want the latest and the greates but I am looking for the best performance and reliability and since there is a multitude of brands and models, I am going a little crazy trying to read reviews and what not...

I am looking for an (1) 8-Port Desktop Switch 10/100/1000 & (4) PCI 32-bit 10/100/1000 Ethernet Network cards. They must be wired.

What do you guys use and what do you think the best would be? I know I will get a few different names and models but it is better than choosing from hundreds of them

Thanks

P.S.: I already have an ADSL router and 3MB of Broadband speed but I am looking to increase speed on my workgroup network.

P.P.S.: I tried searching for SALE or Hot Deals but didn't find much

 

[piako]

I swear by d-link.

Your switch
Or this switch

If you're using 32 bit os's I suggest the DGS-530t, although those are ending support life but DO support JF.

The DGS-530T works on x64 but no JF support.

WIth the NICs the biggest consideration will be the OS your using and drivers. The switch will work with anything.

If you want jumbo frames I would suggest calling the Tech's of that company and confirming the OS support and the JF drivers. ALso you need a JF switch.

If you don't want JF you'll be getting 20-35 MB/s stock gig-e.

btw that 8 port desktop switch (DGS-2208) supports JF and is only 50 clams

 

[jmroberts70]

I'm using Netgear gigabit switches both in the office and at home. I'm running both a 5-port and 8-port switch at home and we have a 16-port switch running at work. No complaints here!

 

[kmeson]

I can vouge for the DGS-2208, picked one up last week. I'm able to push/pull content from my server at around 600Mbs which runs RAID 1 with a pair of 400gig RE2s. That's a bit short of what I was hoping for but a lot better than ~100Mbs I was getting.

After messing with network settings and not getting better performance I finally tracked it down to the array. Turns out I can't get more then 60MBs from the array - nothing but myself to blame here.

 

[piako]

I bet if you add another raid 1 member disk you may hit the higher MB/s on the raid READS. Do you have JF enabled?

 

[motolube]

Wouza, I never expected such a fast response and I guess I should have stated that I am some of a Noob at PC lingo and networking as well I mean, I know my way around computers and I have connected my home network and done a few things in the Office pC's but you guys sure threw me for a loop with JF & DO and them big words

Yeah, I guess I should have stated what OS I was running, sorry, that's the Noob part of me and the excitement

The server is running on Windows Server 2000 Pro. I can not install Windows Server 2003 as my Office software is not compatible with it and I really don't care as 2000 is more than enough for me.

3 Workstations running with Windows XP Pro with SP2. they all have on board NIC's and now that I think about it, I should check if they are 10/100/1000 but I seriously doubt it.

I know for a fact that my 5-Port D-Link is only a 10/100 switch so I need that upgrade.

Now that I have some brands and models, I can use pricegrabber and others to check for Good deals...

Thanks again guys.

 

[Madwand]

Netgear GS608 or GS108, revision 2. You (pretty much) need revision 2 to get support for jumbo frames. These should mention jumbo frames on the box, and Netgear has a support note regarding this to help you identify revisions. Somtimes a little quirky for cable / connection sensitivity (at least the GS608 -- its cosmetics sometimes get in the way of large connectors). Performance is great when things are connected and linked properly.

D-Link DGS-1008D/DGS-1005D have performance problems with jumbo frames, I'm not sure about the DGS-220x series. Connectivity, etc., are good and performance is great as long as jumbo frames aren't used.

Intel GbE NICs are generally very well-regarded, and have good driver support. Pro 1000 MT or Pro 1000 GT (newer). They'll have better performance than the Marvell-based D-Link NIC previously mentioned, and much lower CPU utilization and potentially better performance than the most common Realtek-based PCI NICs. You can find some deals for these on eBay.