Tolly tests QoS on Cisco, Extreme switches

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: JEFF CARUSO ON HIGH SPEED LANS
08/02/05
Today's focus: Tolly tests QoS on Cisco, Extreme switches

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Results of Tolly Group's QoS tests of Cisco, Extreme gear
* Links related to High Speed LANs
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Tolly tests QoS on Cisco, Extreme switches

By Jeff Caruso

Kevin Tolly recently let me know about another LAN-related test
his firm performed. This one, commissioned by Avaya, pits
Extreme Networks switches against Cisco switches.

The approach, Tolly says, was unconventional. Countless other
tests of various equipment have measured the effectiveness of
QoS controls on traffic that experiences congestion upon leaving
the backplane and going out to the edge. That is, too much
traffic is coming from the backplane and trying to squeeze onto
one output port.

In this case, however, the Tolly Group measured the
effectiveness of dealing with traffic when there is congestion
going to the backplane. The example Tolly gave was that 40G
bit/sec of traffic could be going to a backplane that has only
20G bit/sec of capacity. Tolly believes this is a first for QoS
testing.

Tolly tested Extreme's BlackDiamond 8810 and 10808 and Cisco's
Catalyst 4507 and 6509. The aim was to determine how these
switches might do under a heavy load of voice, video and data.
How would each device fare?

Tolly says:

"This test shows that Extreme's QoS solution works effectively
in either 'egress' or 'ingress' congestion situations. It also
shows that while Cisco can perform 'egress' congestion control,
its QoS simply does not work in 'ingress' congestion scenarios.
Thus, in a converged 'triple play' enterprise, high-priority
Cisco's core/edge solutions cannot provide voice and video
streams the 'protection' they need from being overwhelmed by
low-priority traffic."

When the background traffic load was turned up, the Extreme
switches still managed to get 100% of voice calls through, while
the Cisco switches "were unable to complete 100% of the calls,
dropped high-priority data traffic and failed to deliver all of
the IP video streams," according to the report.

For the full report, go to:
<http://www.tolly.com/DocDetail.aspx?DocNumber=205121>

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Cisco vulnerability posted to Internet
<http://www.networkworld.com/nllan4276>

2. Router flaw sparks battle
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080105-blackhat.html>

3. Researcher at center of Cisco router-exploit controversy
speaks out <http://www.networkworld.com/nllansalert4177>

4. Black Hat event highlights RFID and VoIP security threats
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080105-blackhat-side.html>

5. Cisco nixes conference session on hacking IOS router code
<http://www.networkworld.com/nllan4009nllansalert4179>
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Jeff Caruso

Jeff Caruso is managing editor of online news for Network World.
He oversees daily online news posting and newsletter editing,
and writes the NetFlash daily news summary, the High-Speed LANs
newsletter and the Voices of Networking newsletter. Contact him
at <mailto:jcaruso@nww.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Avocent
Network World Executive Guide: Security Evolves. Automation,
specialized 'ops centers' and more.

For network security professionals, keeping a safe distance
ahead of the worst the bad guys have to offer is a never-ending
race. This guide is designed to help with a collection of news,
analysis and product test reviews for practical how-to advice on
subjects ranging from patch management and spyware to promises
and risks of automated security services.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=109182
_______________________________________________________________
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