Firewire versus gigabit ethernet 2

[AnneONymous]

hi,

I am looking for a seriously fast home LAN. I don't mind spending a bit (but not a fortune) - someone has offered me a 4 port gigabit ethernet switch D-Link DGS-3204 for $150 (!), but then I'd have to buy some fibre cables (expensive) and fibre capable gB ethernet cards (currently about $200 each) (or can I run it on copper, taking a performance hit?).

Otoh, I could just connect everything with firewire (and wait for firewire 800).

Any advice? Any figures on speed?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Anee

 

[jimbopalmer]

Firewire is a great way to connect cameras and hard drives to your computer. It was not designed to be, nor is there any standard for, firewire data networking. Not that hacks have not been made, but it is just a hack.

Copper Gigabit ethernet is shorter range than Fiber Gigabit ethernet like that offered by the DGS-3204 which can go 500 meters on the right fiber, if you are spanning buildings or floors of a tower this can be very important.

in either case, it is unlikely your hard drives can keep up with gigabit ethernet anyway, although it is fun to try.

D-Link (as an example) has a 5 port gigabit Switch for $129 (DGS-1005D) and gigabit NICs for $39 each (DGE500T) although the $89 DGE550T sounds more capable.

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

 

[EdPorts]

I agree on everything except the firewire not being designed for data networking.

Firewire is a networking method, as well as USB. In essence, a computer itself is a network.

Furthermore, when you use a USB ethernet adapter... that's designed for networking, right? Well... a firewire switch or hub is basically the same thing, except there isn't any ethernet between the two. Now, I will agree that firewire has no set standards as far as structured cabling or anything of that sort is concerned, furthermore -- I don't believe any of our professional standards organizations that relate directly to networking have any published information, but it certainly is a viable method of making a small LAN for a cheap price, albeit not as flexible.