Ethernet Switch Spec Explanation?

[peterberglin]

I am looking to buy the D-Link gigabit 8 port 10/100/1000 dekstop switch.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127082

I just had few questions on the following specs


1)8K Mac Address Table - Does this just means it allocates up to 8k in space to store all mac addresses on network?

3)Buffer Memory - 144KB

Assume u have
Computer A - LAN IP address 192.168.2.10
Computer B - LAN IP address 192.168.2.15

If a user on computer a copies a file to computer b via network transfer, does the 144kb represent the buffer between packets from 192.168.2.10 to 192.168.2.15? What benefits would their be to a larger buffer size? Less chance of lost packets?

Thanks for taking the time reading this, much appreicated.

 

[jimbopalmer]

You are allowed to have 8000 devices on your LAN without flooding ports, a high number. If the switch tries to keep track of more than 8000 devices locally, it will act more like a hub, sending out many frames to all ports.

144k per port would not be bad, with 1500 byte frames you can get 98 frames behind, which would be very rare. Even with Jumbo Frames, you have a 15 frame buffer.

(any time you try to send to a slower device, frames tend to build up in the switch)

I tried to remain child-like, all I acheived was childish.