Abstract

NEC America, Inc. Corporate Networks Group commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate the Layer 2 and Layer 3 interoperability of the BlueFire 720, version 3.2.15, a wiring closet/workgroup switch and the BlueFire 740, version 3.2.15, an enterprise/core switch. The Tolly Group engineers put each device through a battery of tests designed to reveal the depth of interoperability each switch provides. The devices were tested for interoperability with twelve other switches from eight other network infrastructure vendors. Tests were conducted in conjunction with The Tolly Group/Network World Switch Interoperability Study 2002; vendors configured their own devices for testing. Mandatory tests were broken down into two groups: Layer 2 tests of auto-negotiation, Link Aggregation (802.3ad), Gigabit Ethernet uplink support, support for IEEE 802.1p/Q and Accelerated Spanning Tree (802.1w) reconvergence; and Layer 3 tests of Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)-4, Routing Information Protocol (RIP) 1 and RIP 2, the Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) and IP Multicast support. Optional tests focused on support for Jumbo Frames.