The other question is what is the actual capability of the GigaE cards in a cisco box? I have been told (not played with GigaE on cisco yet and for that matter, neither has the person who told me) that it is limited to around 400Mb/s.
On a 7xxx Cisco, yes, it's limited to 400Mb/s, due to limitations on the interface to the backplane (or VIP2 in the 75xx). On the Cisco 12000, the backplane interface is 2.5Gb/s, so the GigE cards can run at full speed. Interestingly, no-one seems to have mentioned LINX yet in this discussion. LINX have been offering GigE connections to their switch for over a year now as a trial, and in the last few months they are now "live". There are apparently some LINX members pushing a few 100Mb/s through their GigE connection. E.g. see http://stats.sjc.above.net/traffic/lhr/linx-1.html Simon -- Simon Lockhart | Tel: +44 (0)1737 839676 Internet Engineering Manager | Fax: +44 (0)1737 839516 BBC Internet Services | Email: Simon.Lockhart@bbc.co.uk Kingswood Warren,Tadworth,Surrey,UK | URL: http://support.bbc.co.uk/