If I connect two 5-port switches, do I end up with the same throughput as an 8-port switch?

Michael Gregg, Superior Solutions, Inc.

I have two 5-port Gigabit switches. They both have MDI/MDI-x on all ports. If I connect the two together with a single straight-through cat5, do I end up with the same throughput as an 8-port Gigabit switch?
Close, but not quite. Some switches have a back plane or bus attachment. This allows the customer to stack switches together and get the equivalent of one "big" switch. If the switches you purchased do not have this feature and you are forced to cable them together there will be increased latency. Here's a link to a site that has more information about switch-to-switch latency:
http://www.mcclellanconsulting.com/methods/methlat.html

This was last published in April 2004

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