Question : Bandwidth limit software recommendations/setup

We want to install one of the bandwidth limit software that I've found search ex such as Netlimiter or SoftPerfect Bandwidth Manager. We'd like to know if anyone has used either of these products or any other product and can make a recommendation. We have 10-15 clients and a Windows 2003 Server with 2 nics. We will place the Windows 2003 server in between as shown below:

Internet -- (217.x.x.1) SDSL Router (216.x.x.1) -- (216.x.x.2) Firewall (192.168.1.1) -- (192.168.1.2) Win 2003 Server (192.168.2.1) -- Switch -- Network (192.168.2.x)

Does the Win 2003 server need to have a proxy running on it to use this software or ???

Thanks-

Answer : Bandwidth limit software recommendations/setup

Cisco is the leader in hardware solutions -- especially if the BW limiting is port-based, I would think you would be much better with a switch or advanced router handling this than windows, because you can do all kinds of other tricks, like prioritizing port data of a certain packet size, and on, and on -- seems ideal for your needs --

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk543/tk545/technologies_tech_note09186a00800a3a25.shtml

That merely shows some of the things that switches can do that windows software can not do so well.

A cisco 2950T switch can do this, but there are lots of other too.  See the Cisco site for details, and do not exclude lower priced ones like Linksys, which is now their "budget" line, but made by Cisco.  See www.linksys.com to find if any switches fill the bill.  Here are two other switches that handle bidirectional metering and QoS bidirectional, more expensive, but I am just giving you a variety of options here --

http://www.alliedtelesyn.com/datasheets/rapier-i_family_ds_j.pdf
http://www.3com.com/other/pdfs/products/en_US/400797.pdf

Here is a less expensive Netgear --
http://www.netgear.com/products/details/FSM7326P.php

Look into all these options before you consider software on a windows PC.  A dedicated hardware device is so much more robust, will last longer than a Windows config, and does a faster and better job, at least this is our experience.