I agree that switches are a technical leap forward from hubs but to say hubs "suck" is to say networks sucked before switches were prevalent and that simply is not true. Although there are numerous differences between switches and hubs (especially managed switches) the most striking performance factor is that switches keep track of hosts relative to MAC address and discriminate between nodes while hubs present all Ethernet traffic to all hosts on the network. This feature of switches is essential in larger networks (say 48 hosts and up with heavy Ethernet traffic) in order to limit "collisions", but of absolutely no consequence in a small network. With today's super smart switches, collisions may have been eliminated entirely... I'm not certain of that however, anyone who has managed an Ethernet network with over 48 hosts is well aware of the performance degradation caused by collisions in networks with hubs. Rule of thumb... large network use switches; small network, a hub will be fine (if you can even find one anymore hehehe).
-----Original Message----- From: chad [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 6:35 PM To: hlds@list.valvesoftware.com Subject: Re: [hlds] Post-outage thoughts HUBS suck for more than 2 computers, and cost more than switches as you cannot get them new anymore at stores. however hubs are perfect for packet sniffing, and extending a cable past the recommended cable max length, other than that they are not economical, or sensible. that said I just got a hub for sniffing and extending cables if need be. is undetectable packet sniffing on switched networks easy (without managed switches) Hexis wrote: > On Wed, Dec 20, 2006 at 08:53:20AM +0000, Gigabit Nick wrote: > >> Most modern ADSL/Wireless routers have auto sensing non-manageable >> switches in them because the hardware is cheap and packet sniffing made >> people wary of hubs. >> > > Not so much. Hubs offer less performance due to their nature. At this > point there is little or no advantage to a hub over a switch, and > significant disabvantages. The market has migrated to small unmanaged > switches being the norm for home networking. Now it will cost you more > to buy a hub instead of a switch. Hubs have become speciality items > for specific purposes. > > That and packet sniffing on a switched network is pretty trivial. Not > as simple as on a hub, but still quite easy. > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please > visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds > > > > _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds
