Ethernet Switch Recommendation?

[Frank4d]

I am designing a test system that has three 8-bit ethernet microcontrollers http://www.rabbitsemiconductor.com/products/rcm4200 connected through FPGAs to some non-standard serial buses transmitting and receiving 16-bit serial data at 1Mbps clock, at some data rate (maybe up to 500 messages/sec each). A PC connected to the ethernet switch will send commands to the three microcontrollers, and will process the data they send. The PC is a Core 2 Duo at tbd speed with tbd RAM, and software to talk via ethernet will be an .exe compiled from C++ source code. Based on years of experience I think the PC can keep up, but I don't know about the ethernet switch.

I don't think a $50 5-port Linksys or D-Link home switch is going to handle this, it needs to buffer data so messages don't get lost. I don't need a router or DHCP server, just a decent switch.

Any ideas? This is for work so money is no object (but would like to keep it under $2000).

 

[tdg]

Cisco is a tried and true option for reliable performance, but personally I'd recommend looking at HP Procurves. They've got a lot of models that can do several million PPS at extremely low latencies which sounds like something you're looking for. Their price is quite reasonable for what you get.

 

[Frank4d]

I'll take a look at HP Procurves. I already tried the Cisco website and went away more confused than when I started.