> Is it really that much for gigabit hardware?
	I doubt it. I think I've seen Netgear GigE cards for $57; but I
could be wrong.

> Is gigabit the cheapest alternative?
	probably. you might be able to hack together something to do
IP-over-SCSI; but it's probably 10x the hassle and not much cheaper (if at
all). 

> What kind of switch is required?
	not sure if you need a switch. if you do; they're kind of pricey,
tho. I think about $900 for the 4-port Netgear ones. (I could be fairly far
off there, too). 

> What's the difference between a switch and a hub?
	switch routes traffic from port to port (at the Ethernet level, as
opposed to a router which routes at the IP level). hub just broadcasts
everything to everybody.
	
> What's the actual transfer rate you can achieve?
	the FreeBSD folks claim 900Mbit/s (or about 120MB/s [their math]).
Linux is a bit slower than that, but not outrageously so. You probably won't
see the difference.

> If someone is familiar with this, could you send me some part numbers I
> can look-up?
	go to Netgear's web site.

my advice would be to give it a try with a couple of 100base-T cards and a
crossover cable; and see if that works well enough. odds on, it will. 
if it's not enough; then try GigE.
unless you're dead-set on the *coolness* of GigE. :)

Carl Soderstrom. 
-- 
Network Engineer
Real-Time Enterprises
(952) 943-8700