Gigabit networking and samba

[William Jojo]

On Wed, 14 Mar 2001, Matthew Geddes wrote:

> drhodes at deakin.edu.au wrote:
> > 
> > Hi,
> > 
> > We are currently looking at introducing Gigabit into our LANs (Cisco switches, Solaris / Sun Enterprise Series hosts, Linux / Intel hosts) and I am seeking information on Gigabit NICs people are using with success.  I have been read and been told about the ACEnic card as a prefered card, but have read that it is now at 3com and refered to as a "Legacy Card".
> > 
> > (http://www.3com.com/products/nics/altsnic.html)
> > 
> > My question is if there is another card people recomend based on their experiences with Samba / other applications on Linux and Solaris.
> > 
> > Also has any body used the cards below. If so, what were your feelings on them:
> > 
> >   Syskonnect - SK-9843 (SK-NET GE-SX)
> >   3com - Gigabit EtherLink Server
> >   NetGear - GA620
> > 
> > Any feedback greatfully accepted.
> 
> I wouldn't think that the card would make much difference to Samba
> whatsoever. You would be more likely to run into problems with support
> for your operating system. I recommend checking with your OS vendor for
> information on supported hardware and with the vendors of the NICs to
> see which operating systems they support. Having said that, there
> appears to be a fair amount of support for 3com cards out there.
> 

Indeed. Samba would care less. However, my advice would be to stick with
your main vendor, IOW, we have RS/6000's, so we stuck with what IBM had to
offer for a NIC card and have had no problems with throughput when
connected to our Cabletron (now Enterasys) SSR-8600.

Get with your network guru (if you have one) and do what we did...plan,
plan, plan. Make your network what you need it to be! Determine need,
check your aggregates, anticipate future growth, etc. 

Good Luck!

Bill