Basic question about switches

[checkii]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can answer some few basic question about switches

1. If the switch says gigabit, does that means each port is 1 gigabit uplink and 1 gigabit downlink?

2. When connecting two switches together, can you pick any port and connect them together? Would the switches automatically detect one another?

3. Does smart switches (managed switches) automatically assign IP to the computer connecting to it? If I had two smart switches linked up, would they properly assign IP addresses?

P.S I am looking at D-Link switches for the most part

 

[MarkProvanP]

1. Yes, if the switch is full-duplex. Otherwise, you are talking about 500Mbit/s both ways when both are being used. Obviously, if the traffic is more in one way, you will get closer to 1000Mbit/s speed on that.

2. Yes, it doesn't matter whatsoever what port you use. IIRC, even specialist 'uplink' ports work the same way.

3. I'm guessing you mean that the smart switch has a DHCP server. Most switches do not have these, as normally you can use another device on the network as one. Routers, most firewalls and all proper servers (i.e. not an embedded device like a QNAP) can be used as DHCP servers as well. If you can't get one easily, then a cheap router would suffice just as a DHCP server alone, but remember that in any case it is a good idea to assign static IP addresses to network-accessible devices as it is easier to manage them.

 

[checkii]

Hey thanks for the reply, that was very informative. After a few more research of my own I have a much better understanding of how switches work.

I am doing some research for a LAN party and I figure I go with smart switches because they have QoS systems. However if I attached a router to the network for the DHCP server (which also have QoS) would the router's QoS apply to the switches as well? Or is this an instance where smart switches would be a better idea?

 

[MarkProvanP]

The router's QoS would work if you used the router to connect the switch to the Internet, but I think it would only apply for WAN-LAN traffic, not LAN-LAN. As the switch is Gigabit, it is unlikely that there would be any issues with a LAN party, so long as all the traffic goes between the devices connected to the switch.

What kind of router are you considering?

 

[thiggins]

I am doing some research for a LAN party and I figure I go with smart switches because they have QoS systems. However if I attached a router to the network for the DHCP server (which also have QoS) would the router's QoS apply to the switches as well? Or is this an instance where smart switches would be a better idea?

What sort of QoS are you looking for, i.e. what are you hoping it will do? Many smart switches can control port ingress and egress rates (bandwidth limiting). Is that what you want?