Dell Inc. PowerConnect 5324 · 9,000-byte Jumbo Frames and support for RADIUS authentication, among...
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Premise: Layer 2 switches used in network infrastructures must possess wire-speed per- formance to handle a variety of ‘real-world’ traffic scenarios, offer a secure platform, high-availability features, and possess the capability to support real-time and non- real-time traffic to be truly effective in passing the traffic into the network core. When consid- ering the purchase of such devices, network architects and managers would want verifica- tion of key features. D ell Inc. commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate its PowerConnect 5324, a 24-port Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switch designed for use in medium and large business infrastructures. The PowerConnect 5324 is equipped with a variety of switching features and four Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) fiber ports that are designated as port alterna- tives to Ethernet copper ports 21-24. The Tolly Group engineers subjected Power- Connect 5324 to a battery of tests designed to verify the key features of this device. Tests were conducted in June 2004 at The Tolly Group’s Boca Raton, Fl., test facilities. Tests show that the PowerConnect 5324 performs at GbE wire-speed at Layer 2 in a full-mesh port configuration for all frame sizes tested, which varied from 64 bytes through 1,518 bytes. The Tolly Group engi- neers also validated more than a dozen key switch functions essential to LAN switches under The Tolly Group’s Tolly Verified certification program. These features include auto-negotiation, link aggregation (802.3ad), VLAN support (802.1Q), prioritization tagging (802.1p), Rapid Reconfiguration of Spanning Tree support (802.1w), support for 9,000-byte Jumbo Frames and support for RADIUS authentication, among others. Dell Inc. PowerConnect 5324 Layer 2 Gigabit Ethernet Switch Evaluation TOLLY G R O U P T H E No. 204140 July 2004 Delivers wire-speed Layer 2 throughput for all frames sizes tested Automatically sets link speed and duplex mode in conformance with partner port Supports IEEE 802.3ad to forward traffic across multiple aggregated links Correctly distinguishes and prioritizes traffic based on IEEE 802.1p Appropriately tags and distinguishes traffic between multiple VLANs Reconfigures Layer 2 Spanning Tree using "Rapid" Spanning Tree protocol Offers secure system and user management features Supports high-quality voice transport Test Highlights © 2004 The Tolly Group Page 1 Source: The Tolly Group, June 2004 Figure 1 Layer 2 Gigabit Ethernet Throughput Across 24 GbE Ports in a Full-Mesh Design Dell PowerConnect 5324 Test Summary Percentage of Theoretical Maximum Frame size (bytes)
Transcript of Dell Inc. PowerConnect 5324 · 9,000-byte Jumbo Frames and support for RADIUS authentication, among...
Premise: Layer 2 switches used in networkinfrastructures must possess wire-speed per-formance to handle a variety of ‘real-world’traffic scenarios, offer a secure platform, high-availability features, and possess thecapability to support real-time and non-real-time traffic to be truly effective in passingthe traffic into the network core. When consid-ering the purchase of such devices, networkarchitects and managers would want verifica-tion of key features.
Dell Inc. commissioned The Tolly Groupto evaluate its PowerConnect 5324, a
24-port Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switchdesigned for use in medium and large businessinfrastructures. The PowerConnect 5324 isequipped with a variety of switching featuresand four Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP)fiber ports that are designated as port alterna-tives to Ethernet copper ports 21-24.
The Tolly Group engineers subjected Power-Connect 5324 to a battery of tests designed toverify the key features of this device. Testswere conducted in June 2004 at The TollyGroup’s Boca Raton, Fl., test facilities.
Tests show that the PowerConnect 5324 performs at GbE wire-speed at Layer 2 in a full-mesh port configuration for all frame sizes tested, which varied from 64 bytesthrough 1,518 bytes. The Tolly Group engi-neers also validated more than a dozen keyswitch functions essential to LAN switchesunder The Tolly Group’s Tolly Verified certification program. These features includeauto-negotiation, link aggregation (802.3ad), VLAN support (802.1Q), prioritization tagging (802.1p), Rapid Reconfiguration ofSpanning Tree support (802.1w), support for9,000-byte Jumbo Frames and support forRADIUS authentication, among others.
Dell Inc.PowerConnect 5324Layer 2 Gigabit Ethernet Switch Evaluation
TOLLYG R O U P
T H E
No. 204140 July 2004
Delivers wire-speed Layer 2 throughput for all frames sizes testedAutomatically sets link speed and duplex mode in conformancewith partner port
Supports IEEE 802.3ad to forward traffic across multiple aggregatedlinks
Correctly distinguishes and prioritizes traffic based on IEEE 802.1pAppropriately tags and distinguishes traffic between multiple VLANsReconfigures Layer 2 Spanning Tree using "Rapid" Spanning Treeprotocol
Offers secure system and user management featuresSupports high-quality voice transport
Test Highlights
© 2004 The Tolly Group Page 1
Source: The Tolly Group, June 2004 Figure 1
Layer 2 Gigabit Ethernet Throughput Across 24 GbE Ports in a Full-Mesh Design
Dell PowerConnect 5324
TestSummary
Perc
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ge o
f The
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ical
Max
imum
Frame size (bytes)
Results
Layer 2 Wire-Speed GigabitEthernet Throughput AllPorts, Tolly Verified 10554
This certification verifies the backplanecapacity of the switch. Specifically, that itcan deliver wire-speed throughput or 100%of the theoretical maximum throughput fora standard set of frame sizes including theminimum and maximum allowable framesizes with all ports active and configured ina full-mesh design. Tolly Group engineersmeasured the Layer 2 throughput of thePowerConnect 5324 using standard framesizes ranging from 64 bytes to 1,518 bytes.(See Figure 1.)
QoS Recognition (IEEE802.1p) Tolly Verified10533
The PowerConnect 5324 passed this certifi-cation that verifies a device’s ability to dis-tinguish and prioritize traffic based on the802.1p Quality of Service standard. Forverification purposes a given Device UnderTest (DUT) must be able to differentiatebetween two streams that are “tagged”using this standard. Traffic is forwardedexercising both queues. During over sub-scription traffic tagged as “high” shouldreceive preferential treatment (i.e. morebandwidth). (See Figure 2.)
QoS – Four Traffic QueuesTolly Verified 10585
The PowerConnect 5324 earned this certifi-cation that uses a complex stream to verifythe actual number of internal processingqueues in the switch. In the verification ofthe PowerConnect 5324, Tolly Group engi-neers observed the switch handling trafficover four prioritized queues, apportioningbandwidth according to priority policy anda weighted round-robin queuing algorithm.(Note: the specific priority queuing methodused is not specified by the TV certification.)
VoIP CapableInfrastructure (QoS),Tolly Verified 10501
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test’s QoS mechanisms can adequately support latency-sensitiveapplications such as voice in a congestedenvironment by providing sufficientlylow latency as well as voice qualityscores that are coincident with thosedeemed toll quality.
The Tolly Group Dell Inc. PowerConnect 5324
© 2002 The Tolly Group Page 2
Certification ID Certification Category
10501 VoIP Capable Infrastructure (Quality of Service) LAN Switch Core
10503 Jumbo Frame Support - 9K LAN Switch Core
10507 Rapid Reconfiguration Spanning Tree Support (802.1w)
LAN Switch Core
10511 Link Aggregation (IEEE 802.3ad) LAN Switch Core
10513 10/100/1000 Auto-Negotiation LAN Connectivity
10532 VLAN Support (IEEE 802.1Q) LAN Switch Core
10533 QoS (IEEE 802.1p) LAN Switch Core
10536 Management Access Authentication via RADIUS
System Security and User Management
10537 Port Access Authorization via MAC Address LAN Switch Core
10554 Layer 2 Wire-Speed Gigabit Ethernet All Ports (Fixed Configuration Switch) LAN Switch Core
10559 User Authentication via IEEE 802.1X System Security and User Management
10575 Secure Shell (SSH) Remote Access System Security and User Management
10585 QoS - Four Traffic Queues LAN Switch Core
Tolly Verified Certifications Earned
Source: The Tolly Group, June 2004 2004 Figure 2
Source: The Tolly Group, June 2004 2004 Figure 3
Voice Quality Test
PESQ
sco
re
Test mode
For detailed descriptions of any of these certifications, visit http://www.tolly.com.
The Tolly Group Dell Inc. PowerConnect 5324
© 2004 The Tolly Group Page 3
Engineers measure the baseline voicequality and one-way delay using anAgilent Voice Quality Tester connected toVoIP phone handsets and communicatingacross the device under test with no othertraffic present. With QoS on the DUTdisabled, they re-ran the baseline whilesimultaneously generating line-rate traffic destined for the same output port.Engineers verified whether the voicequality suffers and/or the call is dropped.
Tests using the Perceptual Evaluation ofSpeech Quality (PESQ) metric indicate abaseline voice call quality of 4.08 (anyscore greater than 3.8 is considered tollquality). With no QoS active and conges-tion taxing the switch the score droppedto 0.67 but bounced right back to 4.08once QoS was activated. (See Figure 3.)
Port Access Authorizationvia MAC Address, TollyVerified 10537
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test provides functionality thatallows network managers to limit clientport access to stations that have specificLayer 2 MAC addresses.
Management AccessAuthentication via RADIUS,Tolly Verified 10536
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test provides functionality that allowsnetwork mangers to limit managementaccess to users that complete authenticationwith a backend RADIUS server with whichthe device under test communicates.
Jumbo Frames Support – 9K,Tolly Verified 10503
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test transports Ethernet JumboFrames (9000-byte), thus demonstratingthat it can be used in high-performancedata storage networking applications inconjunction with Ethernet network inter-face cards that support Jumbo Frames.
Rapid ReconfigurationSpanning Tree Support(802.1w), Tolly Verified10507
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test detects endpoints and forwardstraffic utilizing the Rapid Spanning Treeprotocol. This feature of the switch pro-
vides rapid network recovery should theprimary link path fail, thus providinghigh-availability.
Link Aggregation (IEEE802.3ad), Tolly Verified10511
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test implements standards-based linkaggregation, thus providing the ability toincrease the switch-to-switch throughput.
10/100/1000 Auto-Negotiation, Tolly Verified10513
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test is capable of interoperatingwith common 10/100/1000 networkingcomponents and automatically selects theoptimum speed and duplex mode sup-ported by the partner end of connection.
VLAN Support (IEEE 802.1Q),Tolly Verified 10532
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test segments traffic appropriatelyaccording to the IEEE 802.1Q protocol.
User Authentication viaIEEE 802.1X, Tolly Verified10559
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test is capable of implementing802.1X protocol to authenticate a clientstation. Tolly engineers used a RADIUSserver for authentication process.
Secure Shell (SSH) RemoteAccess, Tolly Verified10575
This certification verifies that the deviceunder test demonstrates support for SecureShell connections, thus offering the abilityto encrypt management traffic from remotelocations.
Test Configuration andMethodology
For performance tests, The Tolly Grouptested a Dell Inc. PowerConnect 5324,hardware version 0.0.2 running softwareversion 1.0.0.45. The Power-Connect5324 was configured with 24 GigabitEthernet ports.
Dell Inc.PowerConnect 5324
Product Specifications*
Port attributes24 10/100/1000BaseT auto-sensing Gigabit Ethernet switching portsFour combo SFP slots for fiber media supportAdvanced cable and fiber diagnostics for troubleshooting
VLANUp to 256 VLANsProtocol-based VLANs Dynamic VLAN with GVRP
AvailabilitySpanning Tree (IEEE 802.1D) and Rapid Spanning Tree (IEEE 802.1w) with Fast Link support
Quality of ServiceIEEE 802.1p tagging (L2/L3-aware)Adjustable Weighted-Round-Robin (WRR) andstrict queue scheduling
MulticastIGMP snooping for IP Multicast SupportStatic IP multicast
SecurityPort-based security via IEEE 802.1xPort-based MAC Address alert and lock-downRADIUS and TACACS+ support for switchmanagement accessSSL/SSH encryption for switch management traffic
Other switchingLink Aggregation with support for up to eightaggregated links per switch and up to eight portsper aggregated link (IEEE 802.3ad)Jumbo frame support for frames up to 10k bytes
ManagementWeb-based management interface and industrystandard CLIStatistics for error monitoring and performance optimizationBootP/DHCP IP address managementSyslog remote loggingSNTP, Traceroute, Telnet client and DNS
For more information contact: Dell Inc. Round Rock, TX 78682Phone: 1(800) BUY-DELL (1(800) 289-3355)URL: http://www.dell.com
*Vendor-supplied information not verified by The Tolly Group
Dell Inc.
PowerConnect5324
Layer 2Performanceand Functionality
For Layer 2 testing, engineers configured a testbed in which all 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports weredestined for each other in a full-mesh configura-tion. For bidirectional steady state, zero-loss (≤0.001%) throughput tests of 64, 128, 256, 512,1,024 and 1,518-byte frames, engineers usedSmartBits to generate Layer 2 traffic in the configuration described above with an initial load of 100%. (See Figure 4.)
Full test methodology details of the various Tolly Verified certifications earned by thePowerConnect 5324 can be found athttp://www.tolly.com/ TV/TV_home.aspx
Test Bed
Source: The Tolly Group, June 2004 Figure 4
The Tolly Group gratefully acknowledges the providers of test equipment used in this project.
Vendor Product Web address Agilent Technologies Voice Quality Tester http://www.agilent.comSpirent Communications SmartBits 6000B http://www.spirentcom.comSpirent Communications SmartFlow Version 4.0 http://www.spirentcom.comSpirent Communications SmartWindow Version 8.0 http://www.spirentcom.com
Tolly Group ServicesWith more than 15 years of testing experience of leading-edge network technologies, The Tolly Group employstime-proven test methodologies and fair testing principlesto benchmark products and services with the highestdegree of accuracy. Plus, unlike narrowly focused testingshops, The Tolly Group combines its vast technologyknowledge with focused marketing services to help clientsbetter position product benchmarks for maximum expo-sure. The company offers an unparalleled array of reportsand services including: Test Summaries, Tolly Verifieds,performance certification programs, educational Webcasts,white paper production, proof-of-concept testing, networkplanning, industry studies, end-user services, strategic consulting and integrated marketing services. Learn more
about The Tolly Group services by calling(561) 391-5610, or send E-mail [email protected].
Project Profile
Sponsor: Dell Inc. Document number: 204140Product class: Gigabit Ethernet Switch Products under test:
PowerConnect 5324 HW Version 0.0.2Testing window: June 2004Software versions tested:
SW 1.0.0.45Software status: Generally available
For more information on this document, or other services offered by The Tolly Group, visit our WorldWide Web site at http://www.tolly.com, send E-mailto [email protected], call (561) 391-5610.
Information technology is an area of rapid growth and constant change. The Tolly Group conducts engineering-caliber testing in an effort to providethe internetworking industry with valuable information on current products and technology. While great care is taken to assure utmost accuracy, mis-takes can occur. In no event shall The Tolly Group be liable for damages of any kind including direct, indirect, special, incidental, and consequentialdamages which may result from the use of information contained in this document. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
The Tolly Group doc. 204140 rev. clk 26 July 04
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