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anoopH's avatar
anoopH
Follower
Sep 03, 2022

GS116 v1 v/s v2 and packet buffer confusions

Hi,
  When I look up GS116 (unmanaged 16-port GigE switch), I see two options: GS116v1  and GS116v2.
Datasheet for GS116v1 says it has packet buffer of 512KB per port (means 8 Mbytes for entire switch).

Datasheet for GS116v1 says it has packet buffer of 256KB  (does not say per-port or for the entire switch)
But both datasheets say that the ordering number is GS116NA  for the North America version.

That is very confusing:
a. How can two models (v1 and v2) have the same ordering number ?
    Or is v2 the currently shipping version and v1 is obsoleted ?
b. If v2 is the newly shipping version, why is its packet buffer size half of the v1 unit ?
c. Is 256KB packet buffer listed for GS116v2 for the entire switch or per-port  (i.e. 4M bytes for the entire 16-port switch)
d. Or are both v1 and v2 different versions with different packet buffer sizes and I can buy either one ? 
     (they have the same ordering code (GS116NA though)
e. Another link on netgear web site ( https://www.netgear.com/business/wired/switches/unmanaged/gs116/ ) shows under "Specs" 
    that the packet buffer size is 2MB (i.e. 128KB per port) which adds more confusion.
    Does this product have packet buffer of 128KB per port or 256KB (per port of entire device) or 512KB per port ?

I hope someone can clarify.

Thank you
Anoop H.

1 Reply

  • DaneA's avatar
    DaneA
    NETGEAR Employee Retired

    @anoopH,

     

    Welcome to the community! 🙂

     

    a. How can two models (v1 and v2) have the same ordering number ?
       Or is v2 the currently shipping version and v1 is obsoleted ?

    The GS116v1 is already EoL (End of Life).  

     

    b. If v2 is the newly shipping version, why is its packet buffer size half of the v1 unit ?

    It is because the Switching IC (Integrated Circuit) of the GS116v1 is different from the Switching IC of the GS116v2.

     

    c. Is 256KB packet buffer listed for GS116v2 for the entire switch or per-port  (i.e. 4M bytes for the entire 16-port switch)

    The packet buffer size on the GS116v2 is shared on all ports.

     

    d. Or are both v1 and v2 different versions with different packet buffer sizes and I can buy either one ?  (they have the same ordering code (GS116NA though)

    The GS116v1 is different from the GS116v2.  As I have mentioned, the Switching IC (Integrated Circuit) of the GS116v1 is different from the Switching IC of the GS116v2.  

    The GS116v1 is already EoL (End of Life) and it is not being manufactured anymore.  

     

    e. Another link on netgear web site ( https://www.netgear.com/business/wired/switches/unmanaged/gs116/ ) shows under "Specs" that the packet buffer size is 2MB (i.e. 128KB per port) which adds more confusion.  Does this product have packet buffer of 128KB per port or 256KB (per port of entire device) or 512KB per port ?

    We apologize for this.  It is a typographical error.  The 2MB should be 2Mb (or 2Mbits).  This shall be corrected.

     

    If you have observed the GS116v1 data sheet, it used the term "Queue buffer memory" and not "packet buffer" whereas on the GS116v2 data sheet, it used the term "Buffer size" (pertaining to packet buffer size).  Regarding this, be informed that the packet buffer size is fixed for a switch IC.  It varies with different IC vendors or models.  Queue buffer size is depended on the IC’s architecture and setup/configuration.

     

     

    Regards,

     

    DaneA
    NETGEAR Community Team

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