Abstract

The 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4900 is a 16-port Layer 2 Gigabit Ethernet switch designed to deliver full wire-speed performance across a mix of copper and fiber interfaces. In Tolly Group testing, the switch was evaluated in a full-mesh, full-duplex configuration using its full complement of twelve 1000Base-T ports and four 1000Base-SX ports. The goal was to verify whether the platform could sustain zero-loss bidirectional Gigabit Ethernet traffic across common frame sizes while meeting its advertised backplane capacity.  

Results showed that the SuperStack 3 Switch 4900 delivered the full advertised 32Gbit/s aggregate throughput in a 16-port full-duplex environment, equal to 100% of theoretical maximum throughput for all tested frame sizes. With 64-byte frames, the switch achieved 47,619,048 frames per second. With 512-byte frames, it delivered 7,518,800 frames per second, and with 1,518-byte frames it reached 2,600,784 frames per second. In each case, the report states that throughput was wire speed with zero loss, indicating the switch could handle a worst-case scenario of simultaneous 100% utilization on all ports without dropping frames.  

The report also frames the product in terms of price-performance. Using 3Com’s cited pricing, Tolly calculated a cost-per-gigabit metric based on a $4,995 base unit plus a $3,000 four-port 1000Base-SX module, for a total system price of $7,995. Dividing that by 16Gbit/s of switching throughput yielded a cost-per-gigabit figure of $500. Tolly notes that the platform’s mix of copper-based Gigabit Ethernet interfaces can improve economics by leveraging existing Category 5 UTP infrastructure, reducing the need for more expensive fiber deployments and related components.  

The switch tested was model 3C17700 running code version 1.03 and based on 3Com ASIC technology, with a published 32Gbit/s non-blocking architecture and support for features including VLANs, link aggregation, IGMP snooping, RMON, and 802.1p traffic prioritization. Overall, the report positions the SuperStack 3 Switch 4900 as a wire-speed Gigabit Ethernet switch that combines full-rate Layer 2 performance with favorable copper-based deployment economics.