Network Switch

[nzsaffa]

Hi all

Our office have received pandoras box recently, but it did not come with a network switch.
My question is.... What is the best switch to use with pandora?
I will be using art-net protocols at the same time too.

Many thanks
MJ

[Daniel Kaminski]

Hi,

it should definitely be a Gigabit Switch and please stay away from soho / consumer switches.
Buy something reliable for professional use, like HP, DELL, CISCO, ...
there are 1000s of options, maybe some users can tell you what they use and if they are happy with it.

Daniel

[nzsaffa]

Thanks Daniel

Just to clarify, would you recommend a managed or un-managed switch for best performance.
I will be running art-net on the same network. Will this matter much?

Thank you for your help

Cheer
MJ

[Markus Zeppenfeld]

Hi,

Art-Net is producing a lot of traffic, but if you are not using "too many" universes it shouldn't be an issue for the system.
Manageable switches are not capable of filtering Art-Net anyway. You would need to have a special layer filtering switch which is not as "cheap" as the normal ones.

If you go for a "normal" manageable switch, you could use it for having different networks on one switch. If you want to separate two systems or the lighting console data, it could make sense, but it is not necessary for using Pandoras Box.

Markus

[erica frost]

As Daniel has mentioned, there are thousands of switches you could use. Many of them are designed to be used in office/install environments. However there are a couple of switches on the market that are built specifically for the live entertainment/touring environment. These are heavier duty enclosures to take the knocks and bashes of touring and also have EtherCON and PowerCON connectors.
Check out http://www.tmb.com/products/Proplex/DDD/GBS/ for one example.
The rack version comes either managed or unmanaged with a reliable CISCO switch at its heart.

Erica