DazV

in a nutshell could some kind soul tell me whats the difference between these switches ?

unmanaged
smart
layer 2
layer 3

We now have the opportunity at work to rewire, so I was wondering also if its worth going for a gigabit switch or whether to just stick to 100mbps

ChrisB

Unmanaged - plugging it in is usually the most configuration you need to do (or that the switch supports)

Smart - hmmm, could mean a few things.

Layer 2 - The switch inspects data at layer 2 (Data Layer) of the OSI Seven Layer model eg MAC addresses. Layer 2 switches can be simple, unmanaged devices or have more bells and whistles eg ablility to configure and manage it via a web browser or software application.

Layer 3 - Looks at the Network Control layer of the OSI eg IP addresses. Hence will probably have some sort of routing functionality and may be able to make decisions such as the optimal route for a packet. Very likely to be manageable but more expensive than a layer 2.

Layer 4 - Yup, the Transport Layer of the OSI. Can understand protocols ie HTTP in the packets and use that information to make decisions.

I think that's right

ozzy

go for gigabit. At least if you have multiple switches, make sure the backbone is gigabit and try to at least get the servers on gigabit. Not that much more expensive to have gigabit support on switches nowadays.

Also make sure the internal backbone on your switches can support the port speeds. e.g. a 24-port 100Mbps switch needs at least a 2.4GB internal backbone to support all ports being used ar full port speeds.

DazV

cheers - answered all my questions!