Questions[gigabit](server)

I have two Netgear GS748TS 48 port gigabit stackable switches, which when stacked via two HDMI cables allow hosts on one of the switches to talk to hosts on the other.

Netgear claim that the HDMI trunk allows for 10Gbps of bandwidth, but when I test using 4 computers and iperf, it appears that only 1Gbps of bandwidth is available for communication between the switches.

Is additional configuration required? Am I missing some basic networking concepts here?

I'd really like to keep all of the client ports for, well... clients, rather than sacrificing 16 or more of them for a trunk.

Any help is appreciated, many thanks.

EDIT: I'll re-test with higher quality HDMI cables and report back!

We have set up all the equipment necessary to have a gigabit network. All servers + workstations are running gigabit cards, just bought a 16 port switch that can handle gigabit as well. My concern is now that our firewall is not up to scratch. Our firewall is a Juniper Netscreen 5GT which is only 10/100 mbit. If all of our computers are set up to be inside the "trusted zone" - can I still realize the gigabit potential without upgrading our firewall. My thinking is that all computers will talk to eachother through the switch and shouldn't run into any trouble with the firewall - however I have read that a single 10/100 device brings down the whole network to a slower speed even if two computers talking are gigabit.

If not, does anyone recommend the next highest model in the Juniper line that can handle a gigabit output (all I would need is one port as our switch can handle the rest).

Here is a handy diagram of our future setup. Green are all gigabit devices.

We are looking to upgrade our network infrastructure. We have fiber between our IDFs and our MDF but have found fiber core switches to be significantly more expensive than copper. If we were to have a copper core switch and use media converters to connect them to fiber to the closets, would there be any performance impact (bandwidth, latency, etc.?) compared to having a fiber switch?

I live and work in a building that is nearly 20 years old. My Internet connection is in the cellar along with my servers and has a nominal rating of 100 MBit. I have a gigabit switch in the cellar connecting everything up.

That gigabit switch has a direct ethernet connection to a second gigabit switch three storeys up in my office.

I have tested the speed of the connection from upstairs to the cellar and am getting about 80 Mbit, somewhat less than the nominal speed of my Internet connection. I could live with that, but it would be nice to have a faster connection to my servers, so I'd like a gigabit connection between the switches.

Inspection of the cable from the office to the cellar revealed that it is an ISO/IEC 11801. There is no room in the cable duct for a thicker cable (e.g. CAT6 etc.) because the duct also carries a TV cable.

It seems to me, therefore, that a good way forward would be to put in a duplex fibre optic cable between the two switches and interface it with a gigabit media converter at each end. Is it really as simple as that?

The thing I know I really don't understand is the cable confection. Can one simply cut fibre optic cable to length, and connect it to wall sockets and SC or LC connectors? I can't use ready-made cables because the connectors won't fit down the duct, I think.

If someone could point me at a "howto" or share their wisdom and experience with me, I'd be very grateful.

Steve

I have a very basic and newbie question. I was told that we have a "Gigabit Network". So, I ran a quick scp test by copying a file to another machine and the transfer rate is only 35MB/sec.

Shouldn't the transfer rate be near the 1GB/sec?

Also, is there a command line that will tell me that I have a "Gigabit network"? Eg. will ifconfig tell me that?