Abstract

3Com Corporation commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate the performance of the 3Com SuperStack II Switch 2000 TR and compare it to that of the Bay Networks Centillion 100. The frame- rocessing capabilities and frame latency of both switches were tested in store-and-forward mode. The Switch 2000 TR was also tested in cut-through mode, which the Centillion 100 (version 1.2.1) does not support. The Flow Control feature of the Switch 2000 TR was also evaluated.

Test Results
The test results demonstrate that the through- put of 3Com SuperStack II Switch 2000 TR is equal to or better than that of the Bay Centillion 100 at all frame sizes. As expected, frame latency of the cut-through 3Com switch is dramatically lower than that of the Bay switch which only operates in store-and-forward mode. Even when configured as a store-and-forward switch, the 3Com switch exhibits lower latency than the Bay switch. The Switch 2000 TR’s flexibility and high performance comes at a per-port cost less than half that of the Centillion 100. Tests of 3Com’s unique Flow Control feature showed that it can substantially reduce the number of input frames lost when an output port is oversubscribed.