From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Jul 15 02:42:11 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6B1B816A400 for ; Sun, 15 Jul 2007 02:42:11 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from modulok@gmail.com) Received: from py-out-1112.google.com (py-out-1112.google.com [64.233.166.178]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2A63013C471 for ; Sun, 15 Jul 2007 02:42:10 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from modulok@gmail.com) Received: by py-out-1112.google.com with SMTP id a73so1710791pye for ; Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:42:10 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:mime-version:content-type; b=e+h2Ba6ydtdqg4LaOADnqOApWHt6hXSYg7J70An6LoY6dnIrpYoMRIjGbzktZvE6EI64o/noTuei0xJbx70Zsobtu49T8sGpMzlpPUboCRDQbLW3jqWUzKGP7M7EtUoZ1xzOzaK7W+BcTibgh9L+1e0wi5Zq2CyfnGTfRMZCa7E= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:mime-version:content-type; b=nhg8kwxq11sNTvIbFh2c2GvH8npCSASPZBYxahDL6tKmeXmSlK5Oc1wLexx5KpffHBksG6qRtCz+2RIpXSjH8/WUo3i3VWdM3RKsOJM11NK4RcTl+JLwm6MRbHmuYpQVKCG33p4F5yHRrLDoJYdisEvXtOfiE2d/81QmLgJG+wk= Received: by 10.141.68.10 with SMTP id v10mr843586rvk.1184467329732; Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:42:09 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.140.207.2 with HTTP; Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:42:09 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <64c038660707141942l2b202d0ai27ca19437779c658@mail.gmail.com> Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2007 20:42:09 -0600 From: Modulok To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Subject: OT: Does a low-cost, reliable switch exist? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 02:42:11 -0000 I run a small network of under 20 clients. As such we don't have $500+ to drop on a Cisco switch. However the desktop consumer grade stuff is quickly turning me into an insomniac. I'm tired of being woke at 3:00 am to go fix network problems. Does anyone know if something like this exists? (see below) The dream: An ethernet switch that is, above all else, RELIABLE. I would sacrifice everything for 24/7 reliability. A switch that can operate for years without ever having to be power cycled, without ever locking up. A switch that won't lock up if a single client starts flooding it with bogus packets. A switch that won't try to 'auto-update' its onboard software. A switch that won't lock up if there is a short in a cable. A switch that won't lock up if two clients end up with the same MAC address. A switch that will facilitate the examination and editing of its routing tables, speed and duplex mode, as my experience with auto-negotiation casts a very dark shadow upon its reliability. A switch that can loose contact with a client and when it later regains contact, doesn't freak out and require a power cycle. A switch that, if it requires an online configuration interface, doesn't rely on the clients browser to have Java or JavaScript or Flash enabled, this utterly rapes universal accessability. A switch that doesn't try to sell itself on a bunch of bullshit features that nobody ever uses, shown surrounded by pictures of people holding a laptop on one knee while smiling cheek to cheek. A switch who's case doesn't look like a damn spaceship, with no ventilation - A rectangular steel case would be fine, thank you. A switch that doesn't require me to take out a second mortgage. I know this is asking a lot of a switch that doesn't cost 2 thousand dollars...but again I'll give up everything for reliability. I had thought about using a hub instead, but we have some pretty heavy internal traffic. Currently I'm using 3 Netgear GS108 Gigabit blue-box switches chained together for local traffic, with a FreeBSD server acting as the gateway to the outside world, running ipfw and natd. The switches eventually lock up. Sometimes they work for a day, a week, even a month without problems. Then at a random time of day or night, boom network goes down. It's not any individual defective switch as I've tried re-ordering them several times as well as testing them individually. The cables are all good and wired correctly. I've pulled my hair out trying to find what's wrong. I'm not sure I care anymore. I just need something stable enough that I can catch some sleep without this re-occurring nightmare. Is there hope? Thoughts? Suggestions? -Modulok-