Experimenting with network topology and throughput.

[agent_kith]

So before we begin, let's introduce the hardware:

This is the new router:
   
Purchased off Aliexpress. It took about a month to deliver to Perth.

Here's the unit, plus:

• 2x 8GB of 2133 MHz RAM puchased locally
  
• Reused an old 500 GB HDD I have lying around somewhere
  

   

Here's a look of the insides. This is the base of the unit. Behind this board sits the CPU, and that's attached to the top of the case, where all the heat sink fins are. The picture doesn't give you a scale of how small and compact this unit is. The machining is done to millimeter perfection! There is no gap for me to pry the bottom cover off. I have to remove one of the sides so I can remove the top.
   

And here it is with RAM and HDD fitted. This should give you a scale of how compact this unit unit is.
   

Last but not least, my network is now broken up into:
   

So what is a VLAN? It stands for Virtual Local Area Network. In a network switch, all computers have the capability to talk to any other computer on this same switch. A virtual LAN is like inception, it creates another switch inside this switch (hence the word virtual), and computers can only talk to another computer if they are on the same virtual switch.

So in the above example, computers in "DEV" can only see other computers in "DEV". If there is a need to talk to computers outside the virtual switch, they need to go through the router.

In this setup, I have broken down the network communications logically, this in turn prevents a lot of unnecessary suprious network traffic on the network. The theory is, the overheads of VLAN will outweigh the constant traffic noise that is bombaring all the ports on the network. 

So if I design this right, the "Music" VLAN will be where my music server and players are. It can still communicate with any computer on the other VLAN, but it will no longer see the unnecessary broadcast messages (This is the noise I am referring to).

For this to work, the router has to be extrememly fast, and be capable of receiving and forwardinig packets at a moment's notice. Hence the choice of the Minisys router. It has 6 network ports. 1 is connected to the Internet, 4 goes back to the switch (This is called LAGG).

Don't worry if you don't understand any of the above.

The unit is powered off a 12 V SMPS. Not ideal for sound quality, so it'd be something I'd look at addressing in the future.

For folks who are interested in specs, here's the router specifications:
   

There are faster versions - fanless i5 and even an i7 in a different case. But a router is designed to run 24x7. Figures a Celeron will be better for the environment.

My only worry was it is incapable of switching at the maximum speed. For now that seems to be OK. I doubt the Celeron can do full 6 ports at 1 gbps, but that is not a requirement for me.

My quick tests have showed me, not all network chips are built the same. Some chips are just faster than the others. The fastest chips so far are still made from Intel.

I don't  use any audiophile network cables in my setup at all. But in the future if I get a chance to try them out, will be interested to see the iPerf results .. My guess is they'd be the same in terms of throughput.