Abstract

Sun Microsystems, Inc. commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate its GigaSwift UTP Adapter, a PCI adapter using an RJ-45 interface, against a SysKonnect SK-9821 Gigabit Ethernet UTP adapter and a 3Com Corp. ACEnic adapter, each installed on a Sun Microsystems Enterprise 6500 server, outfitted with twelve 400-MHz ultraSPARC CPUs running either Sun Solaris 7 or Solaris 8 operating systems.

Summary:

Results showed that the Sun GigaSwift consistently outperformed its competitors. In Solaris 8, it achieved 940 Mbit/s download throughput—38% faster than SysKonnect and 35% faster than 3Com—and 815 Mbit/s in bidirectional throughput, surpassing SysKonnect by 46% and 3Com by 37%. Under Solaris 7, the GigaSwift reached 925 Mbit/s download and 848 Mbit/s bidirectional throughput, again outperforming the others by margins of 30–43%.

The test environment included 64-bit, 66-MHz PCI slots and used NetIQ Chariot to simulate traffic. The results confirmed that the GigaSwift adapter, with its IEEE 802.3ab compliance and optimization for Sun platforms, offers superior throughput and performance stability. It is a strong option for network managers seeking to maximize Gigabit Ethernet performance in enterprise Solaris environments.