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Thread: 100Mbps port?

  1. #1

    100Mbps port?

    Hi,

    When service providers advertise a dedicated server for lease (or colocation) and they mention 100Mbps port (sometimes uplink port), what are they referring to?

    Are they referring to the port speed of the switch that the NIC is attached to?


    Or is it the router's port speed where this switch ( which in turn the server's NIC is attached to) is attached to such that no matter what the NIC speed is (e.g. 100Mbps or 1Gbps), the traffic that passes thru the server is capped to 100Mbps?

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Hi Fire-At-Will,

    With a hosting company for example, the switch is attached to a GBPS minimum connection to the outside world as such, this is then routed through a router and off to the servers, with the use of the switch and router we can cap the speed of each connect to each server individually, if we assign a server at 100mbit, it can use a maximum of 100mbit, 100mbit in a byte rate is around 10mbyte per second, technically around 12mbyte.

    Hope this answers some questions.
    Kody R.
    US Datacenter Operations Manager
    100TB.com -> Awesome dedicated servers. 20 locations & lots of bandwidth

  3. #3
    Hi NOCKody,
    Thanks for your reply.

    so to understand what you just explained, is the figure below a good representation of how you described it?

    ServerNIC <-> switch <->router<-> GBPS switch
    where <-> represents the incoming and outgoing traffic

  4. #4
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    Hi Fire-At-Will,

    Sorry messed that up a little bit.
    Server <-> Switch <-> Router <-> Datacenters own switches and etc... <-> Super Fast Service Provider
    Kody R.
    US Datacenter Operations Manager
    100TB.com -> Awesome dedicated servers. 20 locations & lots of bandwidth

  5. #5
    Ok, thanks.

    Looking at and using the diagram you have....

    If the Server has 1Gb NIC and is attached to a 1Gb switch port..
    And that switch is attached to a port on the Datacenter switch which is only 100Mbps, the amount of traffic that can come in and out is on the server is capped at 100Mbps, correct?

  6. #6
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    Hi Fire-at-will,

    Yes, in that case you would only be able to get a MAX connection of 100mbps.
    Kody R.
    US Datacenter Operations Manager
    100TB.com -> Awesome dedicated servers. 20 locations & lots of bandwidth

  7. #7
    So in a way, having that 1GB NIC and 1GB switch is pointless in this scenario, right?

    Unless probably the traffic is between two servers connected on that same 1Gb switch, correct?

    And going back to my question...the answer really is that service providers is referring to the port speed at the router that goes out to the outside world, not on the speed between the NIC and the immediate switch that it is cabled into.
    Last edited by fire-at-will; 04-11-2008 at 05:41 PM.

  8. #8
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    Yes thats correct. (Im not 100% sure.)

    But having a 1GBPS connection to a single server is practically a death wish. If you don't have the right equipment, Any jealous person who wants to own you will setup a nice loop and own your bandwidth in minutes.
    Kody R.
    US Datacenter Operations Manager
    100TB.com -> Awesome dedicated servers. 20 locations & lots of bandwidth

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by fire-at-will View Post
    And going back to my question...the answer really is that service providers is referring to the port speed at the router that goes out to the outside world, not on the speed between the NIC and the immediate switch that it is cabled into.
    No, providers are referring to the switch port that the server is connected to.

    An honest provider that doesn't explicitly state shared bandwidth should have greater capacity at their uplink than they offer you, so they can accommodate your bandwidth should you choose to fully utilize your link.

    In other words, any provider that offers 100Mbps ports *should* have Gigabit+ uplinks. Whether or not this is really the case depends on the provider.
    ASTUTE INTERNET: Advanced, customized, and scalable solutions with AS54527 Premium Performance and Canadian Optimized Network (Level3, Shaw, CogecoPeer1, GTT/Tinet),
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  10. #10
    Hi hhw,

    Ok, thanks for the clarification.

    So from what you have indicated, service providers offer these 100 mbps dedicated servers with a possibility that they only actually have 10Mbps uplink such that:

    ServerNIC<-100mbps->Switchport<-10mbps->uplink to the outside world

  11. #11
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    It's definitely possible, although any switch port that's capable of 10Mbps is usually also capable of 100Mbps so it's not that likely. Also, most data centres offer 100Mb links by default.

    A much more likely scenario would be a provider who offers 100Mbps switch ports to dedicated servers, but only has 100Mbps uplinks. Most of the time, nobody would notice as most people don't run anywhere near the full capacity of a 100Mb link.
    ASTUTE INTERNET: Advanced, customized, and scalable solutions with AS54527 Premium Performance and Canadian Optimized Network (Level3, Shaw, CogecoPeer1, GTT/Tinet),
    AS63213 Cost Effective High Performance Network (Cogent, HE, GTT/Tinet)
    Dedicated Hosting, Colo, Bandwidth, and Fiber out of Vancouver, Seattle, LA, Toronto, NYC, and Miami

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