Appendices
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Appendix A. Tips for success when networking Agility units Agility units use multiple strategies to minimise the amount of data that they send across networks. However, data overheads can
be quite high, particularly when very high resolution video is being transferred, so it is important to take steps to maximise net-
work efficiency and help minimise data output. The tips given in this section have been proven to produce very beneficial results.
A.1 Summary of steps• Choosetherightkindofswitch.
• Createanefficientnetworklayout.
• Configuretheswitchesanddevicescorrectly.
A.2 Choosing the right switchLayer 2 switches are what bind all of the hosts together in the subnet. However, they are all not created equally, so choose care-
fully. In particular look for the following:
• Gigabit(1000Mbps)orfasterEthernetports,
• SupportforIGMP v2 (or v3) snooping,
• SupportforJumbo frames up to 9216-byte size,
• Highbandwidthconnectionsbetweenswitches,preferablyFiberChannel.
• Lookforswitchesthatperformtheirmost oneroustasks(e.g.IGMP snooping) using multiple dedicated processors (ASICS).
• Ensurethemaximumnumberofconcurrent‘snoopablegroups’theswitchcanhandlemeets orexceedsthenumberof
ServSwitch Agility transmitters that will be used to create multicast groups.
• Checkthethroughputoftheswitch:Fullduplex,1Gbpsup-anddow n-streamspeedsperport.
• Usethesameswitchmakeandmodelthroughouta singlesubnet.
• YoualsoneedaLayer 3 switch. Ensure that it can operate efficiently as an IGMP Querier.
A.2.1 Layer 2 (and Layer 3) switches known to work• Cisco2960
• Cisco3750
• Cisco4500
• Cisco6500
• ExtremeNetworksX480
• HPProcurve2810
• HPProcurve2910
• H3C5120
• HuaWeiQuidways5328c-E1(Layer3)