Wireshark-users: Re: [Wireshark-users] Can This Be Done?

Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:54:52 -0700
No. The setup will appear to work, but of course the switch interface will 
be overwhelmed as soon as PC traffic goes above 100 MBits/s. To be 
technically accurate most switches will attempt to buffer the overflow 
which will average out traffic rates just above 100 Mbits. And of course 
you have the problem with duplex - your setup has 100 Mbits inbound, but 
it is (or should be) viewing inbound AND outbound traffic on a gigabit 
port - for 2 gigabits worth of potential traffic. Generally this duplex 
issue isn't a problem if your monitor and monitored ports are the same 
speed, but this configuration just won't work.

Given the price of gigabit adapters and ports it makes sense to upgrade 
your Wireshark PC.

Randy Grein
Network Engineer



"Tennis Smith" <tennis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent by: wireshark-users-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
04/13/2007 01:39 PM
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[Wireshark-users] Can This Be Done?






Hi,
 
I have a wireshark pc with a 10/100 nic connected to a switch.  The port 
attached to the pc is getting data mirrored from a 1Gig port passing 
traffic.  So, in other words, the w/s pc is sniffing a port that could run 
as fast as 1gig (see below).
 
      1g           1g
PC1------Switch------PC2
            |
            |
            |(100mb)
         Wireshark
 
 
In my case, there isn’t any need to capture data.  I only want to measure 
traffic rates. 
 
Can the wireshark pc accurately detect traffic rates on the PC1/PC2 
connection when speed exceeds 100mb?
 
Thanks,
-Tennis _______________________________________________
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