looking for a (cheap) gigabit ethernet card that supports jumbo packets

[thekingofboggle]

my 733 g4 that i back up to has a gigabit card but doesn't support jumbo packets. any reccomendations for a replacement?

[jdc]

i know i could look this up -- but whats a jumbo packet?

[incognegro]

jdc,

ask that question on Fire Island...

[Racer X]

no, that's a jumbo package.

[MacMagus]

Why do you need jumbo frames support? Are you sure that your router supports it? Do you have a 'net pipeline that supports it? Or are you only hoping to use it for Mac-to-Mac xfers?

I'm guessing that you're talking about the built-in ethernet when you mention your existing "gigabit card." Gigabit taxes a PCI bus pretty strongly. I suspect that you won't be able to get full-speed from a Gigabit card, whether it supports jumbo frames or not. I have a Gigabit card in my Sawtooth and it performs nearly identically to my built-in 10/100. Gigabit cards play better on PCI-X and realistically are not going to perform at their best on a G4 that's that old.

That being said, we used to use Gigabit fiber cards with some success on Sawtooths at work. You're probably talking about copper, tho.

Apple's warnings for the Xserve PCI Ethernet card are applicable to all Gigabit networks...

Warnings:
1. All devices on a local network must be configured to use Jumbo Frames, or loss of connectivity could occur on that network.

2. All devices on the local network must support use of Jumbo Frames. Few network switches support Jumbo Frames, and sending them to a switch that does not support them may cause the switch to stop operating. Check the specifications of network hardware prior to enabling Jumbo Frames. Even if your devices are Jumbo Frame compatible, Jumbo Frames are not needed under most circumstances. Be sure you have a need for them before using this procedure.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107671