Hi Everyone, We are an educational institution looking into building a scientific computing cluster that has 128-256 nodes interconnected by gigE. The outward connection would be the site FDDI ring. The problem is that we want to experiment with the topology as well as the computing part. :) And I am at a loss as to what gigE switch and router we should use. The requirements are: 1. ability to morph the topology at will 2. fast (doh!) 3. Layer 1-4 is required (up to layer 7 would be nice) 4. load balancing Which companies' products do you like? (*Barring* Cisco) [If you cannot state your opinion publicly, please send me a private reply. I appreciate it and will keep it confidential.) I am looking at these companies: Lucent Foundey Networks River Stone Alteon Extreme Networks Ericcson Would the people who have had experience with these products tell me what they feel? Thank you very much. Michael -- +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | keichii@iteration.net | keichii@freebsd.org | | http://iteration.net/~keichii | Yes, BSD is a conspiracy. | +-----------------------------------------------------------+