For example, for chassis-based switches, we paid more attention to mission-critical backbone features. Likewise, we placed a heavier weight on pricing for fixed-configuration units, since in the long run these devices will be the first to become "commodity" switching items, and because they provide the fan-out port density for your network--these switches, which have a fixed number of ports and limited expansion options, typically are suited for deployment at the edge of the network. Some have limited fault-tolerance features, while others are aimed at backbone connectivity. Their fixed configuration helps pare manufacturing costs, and these savings are typically passed on to the consumer. We looked at the included management options, since you'll likely have many more of these devices to manage than you would chassis-based switches.

Chassis-Based Gigabit Ethernet Switches
The key vendors in the chassis-based arena are Bay Networks with its Accelar 1200, Cabletron with its SmartSwitch Router, Cisco with the Catalyst 5500 line, HP with its new ProCurve line of switches and Lucent Technologies with its P550 Cajun Switch. Among these, Cabletron's SmartSwitch Router offers the most complete feature set at a highly competitive price, and receives our Editor's Choice award for its high level of functionality and performance. The HP ProCurve Switch 8000M sets a new standard for chassis-based switches, with prices as low as $150 per port, and earns our Best Value award.

Cabletron Systems SmartSwitch Router
Cabletron's SmartSwitch Router is an eight-slot chassis with room for seven media modules. The switch features a robust Layer 2/3/4 crossbar switching engine with 16 Gbps of capacity. With support for redundant power supplies and control modules, the SmartSwitch is a true enterprise-class routing solution. It outperforms most of its competitors and does so for less money, offering a win-win solution for any enterprise network manager considering Gigabit Ethernet.

The SmartSwitch can hold up to 56 10/100 Fast Ethernet modules or 14 Gigabit Ethernet modules. We tested Layer 2 and Layer 3 performance of the 56-port version and found that no matter what we threw at the switch, we could not bring it down. At Layer 2, the SmartSwitch showed no signs of performance degradation, even in our exhaustive X-Stream test. Likewise, we tested Layer 3 IP and IPX forwarding and found the switch functioned at wire speed in both cases. The SmartSwitch was the only switch we tested that supported IPX routing in hardware.

Whether it's switching at Layer 2, routing at Layer 3 or filtering at Layer 3 or 4, the SmartSwitch is a real powerhouse. We configured the SmartSwitch to filter all IPX traffic from our network, and then threw a mix of IP and IPX traffic at the switch. It properly filtered all the IPX traffic without degrading Layer 3 performance. It also was the only device we tested that supports RMON 2 style statistics, as well as a full nine-group RMON implementation. Although RMON 2 extraction to an RMON 2 analysis package wasn't supported when we tested, we nevertheless could enable all of the RMON 2 accounting and run all of our benchmarks at wire speed. We then were able to view the RMON 2 counters on the switch console.

The SmartSwitch fully supports 802.1Q VLAN tagging and 802.1p priority queuing. Port trunking was not available at test time, but Cabletron says it plans to add both this feature and support for its proprietary SecureFast trunking mechanism. The routing functionality of SmartSwitch includes support for OSPF and RIP, with BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) support in the works. We tested the Cabletron OSPF routing code on our real-world network. The SmartSwitch had no difficulty learning the 1,900 routes on our lab network.

Also under development for the SmartSwitch are a four-port serial WAN module, two-port HSSI (High-Speed Serial Interface) module, two-port OC-3 ATM module, single-port OC-12 ATM module, and OC-Sc and OC-48c packet-over-Sonet modules. With the addition of these WAN modules, the SmartSwitch will stand out as a best-of-breed enterprise class router.

For all its bells and whistles, the SmartSwitch is priced to sell. A fully loaded 56-port SmartSwitch lists at about $660 per port. Cabletron's gigabit pricing is quite a bit higher, at more than $4,400 per port in a fully configured chassis. Individual two-port gigabit modules list for $5,995.