[CLUE-Talk] Linux as a switch

[Brandon N]

I've currently got a home network of around 3-5 machines depending on
the day.
I've been considering purchasing a ethernet switch.  Looks like I can
find a good managed 12port switch on Ebay for around $80-100, then I
started thinking.
I don't have 12 machines (I would like to but power consumption is
getting to be a factor)
I have a probably 10 spare ethernet adapters and a few spare PCI
motherboards.
So, I'm thinking of building my own.

Does anyone have any experience with 4+ ethernet adapters in one
machine?  I see IRQ's becoming the first problem, can they be shared?

I've seen several 4 port ethernet cards on ebay, anyone know if these
are supported by Linux and if they share an IRQ?

How would the speed compare for a linux based switch vs a conventional
one?

I can see several potential advantages:
firewall, NAT, mixed media (wireless), excellent management options.


Brandon

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