Abstract

IBM Corp. commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate its 8371 Multilayer Ethernet Switch. In an extensive suite of tests, IBM’s 8371 delivered 32 ports of wire-speed Fast Ethernet traffic when transmitting either Layer 2 (MAC) or Layer 3 (IP) data in a full-mesh configuration. In other tests, the IBM 8371 displayed its capability to forward IP multicast traffic to recipients of a multicast group. The IBM 8371 also demonstrated its capability to create an IP broadcast domain and limit IP broadcasts to that domain. Results showed that the IBM 8371 delivered 100% of wire-speed throughput in Layer 2 MAC tests with 32 Fast Ethernet ports in a full-mesh configuration and displayed the same superior performance when tested in a Layer 3 IP, 32-port Fast Ethernet environment.