Question

Suppose a switch is built using a computer work station and that it can forward packets at a rate of 500,000 packets per second, regardless (within limits) of size. Assume the workstation uses direct memory access (DMA) to move data in and out of its main memory, which has a bandwidth of 2 Gbps, and that the I/O bus has a bandwidth of 1 Gbps. At what packet size would the bus bandwidth become the limiting factor

Answer 1

Answer:

When the transmission exceeds 667 packets

Explanation:

In computer networking, a packet is a chunk of data transmitted across the network. The packet size of an Ethernet network is 1.5kilobytes, while the packet size of an IP packet payload is 64 kilobytes.

A switch is a physical network device that connects nodes or workstations while communicating the packets (or frames). The I/O bus size bandwidth is 1Gbps which allows approximately 667 packets. Once this packet size is crossed, the bus becomes a limiting factor or bottle neck.