Ideal switches/setup for this network

[sthayashi]

Hello everyone,

I'm running a mixed network at home and I'm interested in optimizing throughput/bandwidth for my network. The reason for this interest is that I've just added a device that puts things over the top for my Gig-E switches and I'm strongly considering buying a new switch with more ports, but I'm trying to see if there's a compelling reason to buy a smart switch or a managed switch.

The basic areas of my network consist of my office and my living room/basement.

In the office:
(Internet) --> DSL Modem --> Wireless-N router --> everything else

Everything else:
In the office: 3 computers (1 GigE, 1 FastE wired, 1 wireless), network printer, and an Ethernet line to the basement.
Basement/living Room: 5-port GigE switch, 8-port FastE switch, 2 NASes (with 3 ports between them), PS3 (wired), GigE HTPC, Wii (wireless), AV Receiver (wired), and an Ethernet-based DVR.

By FastE, I mean 100Mbps Ethernet. In the basement area, you can see that I have more GigE devices than I do GigE ports. The DVR was the latest acquisition, and while it's supposed to be able to run on 100Mbps networks without a problem, I'd be more comfortable running it on GigE.

The first NAS is our general purpose NAS, i.e. where are music, photos, and movies are stored. The 2nd NAS is largely just a backup device that runs on its own (yes, I periodically shut it down, swap out hard drives and take those hard drives to an offsite location).

Ideal optimization: I would love to be running a jumbo frame GigE network, but I worry that it may cause problems with the non-GigE devices on the network.

I'm pretty sure that 2 managed switches can get me there, but I'm hesitant about dropping so much money on what may be a marginal improvement over something much cheaper (i.e. one "dumb" switch).

Does anyone have any thoughts or advice? Thank you in advance.

 

[teknojnky]

you don't need a managed switch for jumpbo frames, just a regular switch that specs include JF support

what a managed switch could get you is 'bonding' or 'trunking' of ports (if your nas(s) support it), which in nearly all cases is irrelevant for home use.

for example one my switch is @ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FITKK8/?tag=snbforums-20

which works fine with JF

 

[sthayashi]

I realize that I don't need a managed switch for jumbo frames (in fact the current GigE switch I have IS jumbo frame aware). My concern is unmanaged interaction between GigE and non-GigE devices.

Reading the NTK here on Jumbo framing suggested/recommended setting up VLANs, which is where the smart/managed switches come into play.

 

[GregN]

TJ is right, and the DGS is a good choice and supports Jumbo frames. I run a couple of the 5 port DGSes.

I've never seen problems running Jumbo with non-jumbo equipment, there is a performance hit for non-jumbo capable network adapters that have to deal with the oversize payload, if you can it is best to run a homogeneous (or segmented) network.

Tim, the BGL (Bull Goose Looney) here, stopped testing NASes for Jumbo frame support a while back because it made little difference with the modern intelligent NICs most folks run.

If you do want to do VLAN, a managed switch can be handy ( though depending on your topology, not required ), take a look on EBay a managed switch can be snagged for cheap there ( my PowerConnect was a little over $70 ). Managed switches often have fans and are not as quiet as consumer unmanaged switches - have a place to put the switch where noise won't be an issue (ie, not next to the TV)

 

[sthayashi]

Thanks. The unmanaged switch I was thinking about getting was the Netgear GS108, since I've been pretty happy with the GS105 that I've owned for years. Though I could probably get by with another GS105, since I don't have that many more devices.

Based on what I've written above, is there any compelling reason to NOT simply get another switch?

 

[GregN]

Thanks. The unmanaged switch I was thinking about getting was the Netgear GS108, since I've been pretty happy with the GS105 that I've owned for years. Though I could probably get by with another GS105, since I don't have that many more devices.

Based on what I've written above, is there any compelling reason to NOT simply get another switch?

None that I can think of.