Nortel Ethernet switch tested against Cisco, HP switches

LANs & Routers This newsletter is sponsored by Force10 Networks, Inc. Building the Reliable Business Network Gain insight from enterprises around the world who rely on Force10 Networks high performance Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches and routers to deliver the reliability, network control and scalability needed for supporting application flexibility, investment protection, and lower total cost of ownership. Click here to learn more. Network World's LANs & Routers Newsletter, 06/26/07 Nortel Ethernet switch tested against Cisco, HP switches By Jeff Caruso In all the hubbub over Interop last month, I missed this test from the Tolly Group: The testing firm compared the Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 2526T and 2550T against the Cisco Catalyst 2960-24TC and 2960-48TC, and the HP ProCurve 2626 and 2650. As always with the Tolly Group, remember that the organization is paid by a vendor - in this case, Nortel. However, Tolly bills itself as independent and unbiased; it runs its tests, gives the results to the sponsoring vendor, and leaves it up to the vendor to release the results or not. The Nortel ERS 2500 series of switches are Layer 2/Layer 3-capable. The 2526T is a 24-port Fast Ethernet switch, and the 2550T is a 48-port Fast Ethernet switch. Both have four Gigabit Ethernet ports for uplinks. The IDC Enterprise Panel: Join IDC's panel of IT influencers and decision-makers. Your contributions will be compiled and distributed to technology and telecommunications vendors all over the world. As a thank you for joining, you will receive select free IDC research, and discounted IDC conference passes. Click here to learn more Tolly said the Cisco and HP switches had comparable configurations, except that they had two fewer Gigabit Ethernet ports. In its tests, Tolly found that the Nortel switches were able to forward frames 45% faster in the 24-port test and 16% faster in the 48-port test. The Nortel switches reached a bidirectional frame forwarding rate of 9.52 million frames per second in the 24-port test, compared to 6.55 million frames per second for both the Cisco and HP switches. In the 48-port test, the numbers were 11.6 million frames per second for Nortel and 10.12 million for Cisco and HP. Tolly also noted that the cost per gigabit of throughput for the Nortel switches was a fraction of that of the Cisco switches. It was even better than that of the HP ProCurve switches, though not by as much. If you are interested, you can view the full report here.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: 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 jcaruso@nww.com This newsletter is sponsored by Force10 Networks, Inc. Building the Reliable Business Network Gain insight from enterprises around the world who rely on Force10 Networks high performance Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches and routers to deliver the reliability, network control and scalability needed for supporting application flexibility, investment protection, and lower total cost of ownership. Click here to learn more. ARCHIVE Archive of the LANs & Routers Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007