Abstract

Hewlett-Packard Co. commissioned The Tolly Group to benchmark its Procurve Switch 4108GL versus a Cisco Systems, Inc. Catalyst 4006 switch in competitive Layer 2 Fast Ethernet/Gigabit Ethernet forwarding performance tests. 

This Tolly Group competitive evaluation compares the Hewlett-Packard ProCurve Switch 4108GL with the Cisco Catalyst 4006 in Layer 2 Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet forwarding tests. Conducted between August and November 2001, the study focused on whether each switch could sustain steady-state, zero-loss, full-duplex bidirectional traffic across a range of packet sizes and port configurations, including Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and mixed Fast/Gigabit environments. The HP 4108GL was tested as an eight-slot copper-interface chassis, while the Cisco 4006 was configured as a six-slot copper-interface chassis.  

The results show that the HP ProCurve 4108GL consistently outperformed the Catalyst 4006. In Gigabit Ethernet testing across 48 ports, the HP switch delivered 100% of theoretical maximum throughput for all tested frame sizes in intra-module port-pairing and maintained 90% to 95% of theoretical maximum throughput in mixed intra- and inter-module configurations. By contrast, the Catalyst 4006 reached only 15% of theoretical maximum throughput with 64-byte frames and 20% with 512- and 1,518-byte frames in both Gigabit test scenarios.    

In Fast Ethernet testing across 192 full-duplex ports, the HP switch delivered 100% of theoretical maximum throughput at all tested frame sizes in both intra-module and mixed intra-/inter-module configurations. The Cisco switch approached the HP result only in Fast Ethernet, where it reached 95% of theoretical maximum throughput for 64-byte frames and wire speed for 512- and 1,518-byte frames. In the mixed topology test using 144 Fast Ethernet ports and 12 Gigabit Ethernet ports, the HP 4108GL again led, delivering 35% of theoretical maximum throughput for 64-byte frames and 40% for 512- and 1,518-byte frames, versus 15% and 20% respectively for the Catalyst 4006.    

The report also highlights cost efficiency. In the mixed Fast Ethernet/Gigabit Ethernet scenario, the HP switch posted a cost-per-gigabit of throughput of $1,417, compared with $9,261 for the Catalyst 4006. Across the tested scenarios, Tolly concludes that the HP ProCurve 4108GL was between two and 12 times less costly per delivered Gigabit while also providing superior forwarding performance. Overall, the evaluation positions the HP 4108GL as a high-performance Layer 2 switch with strong throughput, modular flexibility, and better price/performance than the Cisco alternative in the tested configurations.