[K12OSN] hub vs. switch at eth0
"Terrell Prudé, Jr."
microman at cmosnetworks.com
Tue Aug 30 03:58:01 UTC 2005
I agree with Ronald until you start talking about managed switches. I
find that the managed Amer.com gear, specifically the SR48G2i, actually
gives me more functionality than the Cat 2950, with one critical
exception, and that's GVRP. I really wish Amer.com would start fully
supporting GVRP in their managed switches (are you listening, Mark
Wilhelm?). The SGR24, an unmanaged "dumb" Gig-E switch, is an
apples-n-oranges comparison to either the 2950 or SR48G2i. It's
essentially a Netgear mini-switch with 24 Gig-E ports and a hella-fast
backplane. That said, the SGR24's worked well for me in LTSP deployments.
I can certainly relate to Ronald's note about flashing the OS. We're a
Cisco shop, and Cisco has become *infamous* at my place of work over the
last few years for releasing stuff that ain't quite ready--witness the
releases of Cat 3550 IOS before 12.1(19). Due to the size of our
network, and that we really use a lot of the functionality of the gear,
we seem to flush out a ton of bugs. Said bugs have caused us much, much
headache, especially on Cat 6500 MSFC's, and since any long-time network
engineers in the house know what 6500's are typically used for (yes,
we're *that* big), y'all can imagine how bad that can be. I just today
ran into what looks like a timing issue with 4506 code; wasn't fun.
All that said, you can update the firmware on the managed Amer.com
switches, but their policy seems more one of "when new functionality or
an updated 802.3 standard comes out, we'll update" rather than "hey,
there's a security hole, let's release a software update." That's a
little scary given that the Amer.com switches do support SSH. If
they're using any version of OpenSSH that's, say, pre-3.7, then that
can, depending on how they're using that code, become a serious problem.
--TP
rmcdaniel at indata.us wrote:
> Certainly not a guarantee, however there is a lot more switching
> technology put into that 2950 than an Amer.com switch. Or netgear,
> linksys, Allied Telesyn, etc. Flashing a new OS on the 2950 should
> have fixed that problem. I would also check and see if you can update
> the OS on the Amer.com switch. I always recommend updating the OS on
> any network product. They are always produced and released to market
> before the kinks are worked out.
>
> Ronald R. McDaniel
> Conecuh County Schools
> (251) 578-7073 x26
> (251) 230-0658 cell
> rmcdaniel at indata.us <mailto:rmcdaniel at indata.us>
>
>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [K12OSN] hub vs. switch at eth0
> From: Andrew Fisk <andy at spitcomp.com>
> Date: Mon, August 29, 2005 7:54 pm
> To: "Support list for opensource software in schools."
> <k12osn at redhat.com>
>
> I would think that the auto sensing is a pretty good guess,
> although I would look at duplex rather than speed -- if you can
> not configure the switch then set the card to 10 / half, and then
> bump it up from there -- you might find that as long as nothing
> has to "auto" sense that you can run at any speed you like. I
> discovered this problem the hard way on Cisco 2950's with IBM's
> built in NICs-- which makes me think that the cost of the hardware
> is not a guarantee of problem free networking.
>
>
> Andy
>
> Spitfire Computer Services
>
> 441 Beaver Street
>
> Suite 202
>
> Sewickley, PA 15143
>
> Phone (412) 749-0162
>
> Fax: (412) 749-0203
>
> andy at spitcomp.com <mailto:andy at spitcomp.com>
>
> www.spitcomp.com
>
>
> On Aug 29, 2005, at 8:23 PM, David Trask wrote:
>
>> "Support list for opensource software in schools."
>> <k12osn at redhat.com <mailto:k12osn at redhat.com>> on
>> Monday, August 29, 2005 at 4:47 PM +0000 wrote:
>>
>>> Why don't you just pull out the Realtek card and that will force the
>>> server to use the onboard NIC as eth0? Sounds like it is an old
>>> NIC card
>>> that doesn't play well with the Amer switch. I have seen before
>>> where
>>> certain NIC's were not compatible with an Amer switch. So much for
>>> standards. The Amer stuff is pretty low end networking gear and
>>> sometimes doesn't work very well. Is the RealTec NIC a 10/100
>>> or just a
>>> 10 Mbs NIC? Sounds like the Amer isn't doing a good job of
>>> autosensing.
>>>
>>
>> Don'ty blame the Amer Switch....I have a whole building full of
>> them 50+
>> ranging from little 5 ports to 24 port and gig switches....I also
>> have
>> MANY C110W Amer NIC's. I have a schoolwide LTSP network (600
>> users) and
>> not one issue. Sounds like the network card may be partly to
>> blame. Take
>> out the NIC and replace with another...try the switch again and then
>> see.....you can also try another Amer switch....it's possible you
>> have a
>> lemon, but not to worry as it has a lifetime warranty.
>>
>> David N. Trask
>> Technology Teacher/Coordinator
>> Vassalboro Community School
>> dtrask at vcsvikings.org <mailto:dtrask at vcsvikings.org>
>> (207)923-3100
>>
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>
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