The D-Link DFE-910 Network In A Box
Award Winning Performance

By Jeff Bouton
6/12/2001

 

Hub vs. Switch Overview Continued... Put On Your Thinking Cap...

One of the biggest advantages to a switch is its ability to direct a packet to the destination computer and not the other components connected to the network.  Using the MAC address of each network card on the network, the switch directs the packet to the intended recipient.  A MAC address is a unique identifier incorporated into every NIC.  Scanning each packet for the source and destination MAC address, the switch can direct the information to the appropriate machine.  As seen below, Computer A sends a command to Computer C, while Computer B sends a job to the Network Printer.  Scanning each packet for the MAC address information, the DSS-5+ switch directs each request to its intended recipient without allowing the two to interfere with each other.  This allows for an efficient network design and higher overall bandwidth.

Because of the switches design, maximum bandwidth can be maintained even while multiple machines are sending information across the network.  In the case of the DSS+5 Switch, five components can be attached, send information simultaneously, and the information can travel at a maximum bandwidth of 100Mbps.

 

Hot Hardware's Test Systems Something Old, Something New...

Test Machine A Tyan Tsunami S1846 (Intel 440BX) with an Intel PIII @ 650MHz. 256MB of Infineon RAM Western Digital 8Gig ATA66 5400 RPM Hard Drive nVidia GeForce 2 MX 32MB AGP Graphics Card Sound Blaster Value Live Creative 52X CD-ROM Windows 98SE Direct X 8.0a and nVidia reference drivers V.6.50

Test Machine B Shuttle AE23 (Intel i815EP) with an Intel PIII @ 933MHz. 256MB of Mushkin 2-2-2 Rev. 2 RAM Western Digital WD300BB 30Gig ATA100 7200 RPM Hard Drive nVidia GeForce 2 Ultra 64MB AGP Graphics Card Hercules Game Theater XP Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32 Pioneer 16/40 DVD Rom Windows Millennium Direct X 8.0a and nVidia reference drivers V.6.50

Test Machine C Compaq Presario 1255 AMD K6-2 - 333MHz. 96MB PC 100 RAM 12GB Western Digital HD Neo Magic 128 XD Video ESS 1869 Sound 20X CD-ROM Windows Millennium Direct X 8.0a

 

The Benchmarks Short and Sweet...

For our benchmarks, we've used a handy command line utility called NetCPS.  NetCPS is capable of transferring a specific amount of data across the network without utilizing the computers' hard drives.  This enables us to test the network capacity without the possible bottleneck involved with hard drive transfer rates, if they exist at all.  Below is an explanation of the tests we ran and the reason why we ran them.

In Test Scenario 1, Test Machine A is running NetCPS in server mode.  Test Machine B is configured in client mode with a 500MB transfer being sent from one to the other (top red line).  This is a simple test to gauge an optimal transfer rating for comparison with the remaining tests.

In Test Scenario 2, we used NetCPS to transfer 500MB of data between Test Machines A & B simultaneously (both red lines).  This test gives an example of the Full Duplex concept and performance.

In Test Scenario 3, we used the same setup as the second while also downloading a 1GB file from Test Machines A & B to Test Machine C (2 blue lines).  This test was run to cause a fairly heavy amount of traffic and demonstrate the performance advantages of a Switch over a Hub.

Our test results list the average Megabytes per second transfer rate as well as the total amount of time it took for the 500MB transfer in seconds.  Each Scenario was running using the D-Link DSS-5+ Switch compared to a Linksys EFAH05W 5-Port Workgroup Hub.

As you can see by these performance numbers, the D-Link DSS-5+ far surpasses the performance of a standard hub. As traffic increased and the potential for a collision became greater, as with Test Scenario 3, the Switch handled the traffic far more effectively than the Hub. The performance of the HUB dropped almost 53% while the DSS-5+ dropped 31%. As seen with the transfer of a 500MB file, Test Scenario 3's time was more than doubled to 129.87 seconds with a hub, while the overall time increased 24.22 seconds to 76.22 with the switch.

So what does all of this mean to the PC user looking to set up a home network?  First off, if you are one of the lucky people who has a DSL or Cable internet connection, this is an excellent option for networking multiple computers and sharing an internet connection. With the ability to transfer large amounts of data, the DFE-910 Network In A Box will outperform a similar hub-based system. With the increasing popularity of online gaming and streaming media, using a switch-based network will ensure smooth operation even under heavy loads.
 

The DFE-910 Network In A Box is an all-around good product. We have demonstrated the benefits of owning such a system compared to a hub-based one.  The cost difference between owning a Switch compared to a Hub should be minimal, and at a price of $119, the DFE-910 Network In A Box is an excellent choice. Even though the software included in this package is quite poor, the documentation provided is top notch.

For excellent quality, documentation, and overall performance, we give the D-Link DFE910 Network In An Box a Hot Hardware Heat Meter Rating of an 8.
 

Are you talkin' ta me?  Get into the HotHardware Conference Room!