NJ100 – 4 Ports For The Price Of 1 – THG.RU

NJ100 Network Jack – 3Com

When 3Com first starting talking to us about their new NJ100 Network Jack, we just didn’t get it. Considering all of the sexy hardware that we review, it is difficult to get really excited about something like a network jack. However, we know from your input that you like it when we find you new ways to save money – and after spending some time getting to know the NJ100, one thing that we can tell you for certain is that it can save you a lot of money.

Leave it to 3Com to come up with an innovative idea for promotion of the NJ100. As you can see in the picture, my personalized NJ100 arrived in a big red 3Com tool box ready to be taken to the job site for installation. I think you can count on the fact that the NJ100 will not ship with the tool box and will not be customized with your name prior to installation.

In the past, network jacks have all been pretty much the same, no matter which manufacturer you chose. One of the biggest problems that we continue to see is that, with the ever changing evolution of computing on the client side of the LAN, users have the need for more network connections than the stardard “one connection per cube/ office/ workspace” that most IT shops provide. With new technologies like VoIP (voice-over IP) on the horizon, the need for additional connections is sure to continue to grow.

Cabling is expensive and the cost per run continues to escalate. This cost escalation is not due to an increase in the cost of the materials, rather, it is due to the cost of labor that has to be added into every cabling installation job. Of course, the complexity of the building configuration and inside surfaces can increase costs, as well. When thinking about surfaces, you must factor in that many companies use cubicles, which can also influence cabling plans.

So, What Is The NJ100?

As we explained in our THG Comdex 2001 Day 3 report, the NJ100 is a four port 10/100 Ethernet Switch that has VoIP compatibility, flexible power sources, and can fit into a standard “single gang” form factor. In many ways, this description doesn’t do the NJ100 justice, so the picture below might give you a better idea of what we are talking about.

Here’s a more graphic description of the NJ100. After looking at this diagram, you’ll hopefully have a better idea of what the NJ100 is and what it can do.

When explaining what the NJ100 can do, the simplest explanation is this: “When there are more networking devices than active ports, the NJ100 provides connectivity to multiple devices using a single network connection.” (No, you are not missing anything.) In a nutshell, this is what the NJ100 does. Again, the picture below might help explain a little better.

With all of the smoke and mirrors that disguise many of today’s products, it is sometimes hard to conceptualize simple ideas that really do belong in today’s marketplace.

So, What Is The NJ100?, Continued

By this time, you are probably wondering, “Why wouldn’t I just go ahead and use a four port switch with an uplink port?” Well, you can do that, but having non-technical users responsible for hubs or switches can lead to additional support costs. The hub or switch can become unplugged or disconnected, then the user will call the help desk, the help desk will have to dispatch someone to the user’s desk, only to find out that the problem is nothing more than a disconnected cable connection. Another possibility is that the small five port switch could disappear, this isn’t as likely with the NJ100 as it would be bolted to the wall or kick plate of the cubical.

The NJ100 eleminates this problem, because once it is installed there is nothing to “support,” or, therefore, worry about. Users simply plug their network devices into the NJ100 and it works. The NJ100 can even match your existing dйcor, and it helps eliminate some of the unsightly cables and wires that we would all like to be rid of, too.

Here is a better close-up of the front of the NJ100. It looks good. It makes you wonder why no one ever thought of this before.

Although the NJ100 can be powered by a local AC adapter, the NJ100’s “Power-Over-Ethernet” option is a feature that really provides additional value. The NJ100 supports IEEE 802.3af Power-Over-Ethernet standards, which allows you to power the NJ100s from wiring closets, rather than locally. 3Com also offers a Power-Over-Ethernet Midspan Solution, which can add Power-Over-Ethernet capabilities from one to twenty-four ports, using the IEEE 802.3af standard. Of course, this feature isn’t included, but can be purchased at additional cost.

The NJ100 is available in both cream and black (which looked more like dark gray to me), to match just about any decorating environment that you might have. (Hey, I’m a computer geek – my idea of “any” decorating scheme is pretty basic.) But seriously, 3Com is working with a number of cubicle manufacturers (like Herman Miller) to be able to offer the NJ100 as an option that will install directly into the kick plates of the cubicles. Now, this would help make pre-wired cubicles a greater likelihood for the future, which would be a real convenience. The NJ100 also includes a connect light, as well as a power light on the jack plate itself. Both lights are small and don’t blink. This is good, because you don’t want something neon bright blinking under your users’ desks.

How To Start Using The NJ100 To Start Save Money

In order for the NJ100 to save you money on your network cabling, the first issue to consider is how the NJ100 is connected to your network. Normally, if you need four network ports in an area, you have to pull four cables. Cable installers are not stupid. It takes them the same amount of time to pull four ports as it does to pull one. The interesting part is that when the installation is billed to you, you are charged the same amout as if they had pulled all four cables separately, rather than all four at one time.

This is where the cost savings starts! With the NJ100 jack, you use one cable pull for the NJ100 itself, and you then have four ports. One pull, four ports. No extra charges for the additional three runs that they didn’t pull, and no additional charges for the extra cables that would have been used. If you decide to use the additional two ports for either VoIP or phone, you will have to pull additional cable for that. (If you don’t want to use the additional ports, you can use the enclosed spacer to cover over this area of the jack.) You can get a better idea of how the NJ100 is connected in the picture below.

Here is a better close-up of the back of the NJ100. The back of the NJ100 is where the “UPLINK” port is located. You connect the NJ100 to the switch in your wiring closet using this uplink port. When looking at the NJ100, you have to wonder where the external power plugs into the unit, if you are not using the 802.3af Power-Over-Ethernet option. Although you can’t see it here, the bottom part of the outer plate hides an AC input jack for an External AC Adapter. You can also see where the cables connect to the additional jacks that can be used for VoIP or phone jacks. It is possible to use these jacks as additional network ports, but, of course, they would require additional cable runs.

Although you cannot really see it on our picture of the rear of the NJ100, the unit includes a bank of four DIP switches which allow you to set the NJ100 for different standards of Power-Over-Ethernet. Configuration of these DIP switches as well as additional installation instructions are covered in the well written instruction manual that comes with the NJ100. It doesn’t include any disks or CDs, but then, why would you need them? Although you can download a PDF of the data sheet for the NJ100, you can’t download the manual. I am sure 3Com will offer the manual online at some point.

Of course, using the NJ100 can also save you money on switches for your wiring closet. You can purchase smaller switches with less ports because you only need one port for every four users. This can also save you a bundle in switches for new installs. As an example, your typical 16 port switch can now handle 64 users. This is a great bargain in an IT manager’s world.

Cost Comparison Breakdown

To give you an idea of the cost savings, we have put together a comparison.

Now that we have shown you how the NJ100 can reduce your cabling costs, let’s see what kind of performance it delivers.

Testing The 3Com NJ100 Vs. The SMC EZ Switch 10/100 SMC6405TX

We put a lot of thought into the manner in which we tested the NJ100, and performed a few tests that we felt would simulate a “real-world” use of the NJ100. In order to test the NJ100, we had to find a switch with which to compare it. We settled on the SMC EZ Switch 10/100 (SMC6405TX), which we felt was a good choice.

The SMC6405TX is basically a five-port 10/100 switch, with one port acting as an uplink. This leaves four usable ports (which is the same as the NJ100). The SMC6405TX isn’t fancy, but has been a staple in our lab for quite some time. We have found the SMC6405TX to perform well and to be rock solid and dependable during our lab use.

As with the configuration that you would expect in an IT oriented environment, both the NJ100 and the SMC6405TX were connected to a SMC EZ Switch 10/100 1016DT, while our Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a server was connected to port 1. During the testing process, both the NJ100 and then the SMC6405TX were connected to port 8, one at a time. Our client system was connected to port 1 on both the NJ100 and the SMC6405TX. No other systems or devices were connected to the network during our testing, so there was no network traffic other than that of our test systems.

Test Setup

Test Results

We looked at the performance of the NJ100 and the SMC6405TX using Net IQ’s Qcheck utility. Qcheck is part of the Chariot Network Performance Suite. You can download Qcheck at: http://www.netiq.com/qcheck/default.asp. Using Qcheck, we ran three tests as follows:

TCP Response Time

This test is very similar to “ping,” and tells you how long it takes another machine to respond. This measurement is commonly referred to as “lag” or “latency.” We use ten iterations of 100 byte data size.

We carried out the test a number of times and could find no discernible variation or difference between the two products.

SMC 6405TX

• Min – 1ms
• Avg – 1ms
• Max – 1ms

NJ100

• Min – 1ms
• Avg – 1ms
• Max – 1ms

TCP Throughput

TCP Throughput tests the time it takes to transfer a block of data from test desktop system to our test server system. Sometimes called “bandwidth,” it is a measure of a network’s raw transfer speed. We used 1000k Byte test data size for this test.

UDP Streaming: [Description From Qcheck Help file]

“Streaming tests, like multimedia applications, send data without acknowledgments. In Qcheck, streaming uses the connectionless protocols IPX or UDP. Qcheck’s streaming tests emulate the behavior of applications that use streaming, such as Voice over IP and video broadcasts. This test indicates how much bandwidth the multimedia traffic might need, and makes it easy to compare the speed of the network hardware with the actual data rate the network is achieving.” (source: Qcheck help file.) We set Qcheck with a data rate of 50Kbps for a duration of 30 seconds.

Conclusion

We think that the NJ100 is very functional, simple to install, and performs a little better than the reasonably-priced SMC 6405TX 10/100 switch. Although the performance of the NJ100 didn’t set any new records, we didn’t really expect that it would. However, the cost savings that the NJ100 can provide in installations must be considered a very important feature when planning major cabling installations. Based on our testing, we would recommend the NJ100, as it has innovative features that are not currently available with any other product. At THG, we like well-designed products that can save you money, and we think that the NJ100 has all of the right elements to find a home in many network environments.