Sorry if this seems to be a stupid question, I'm not sure how to specify what I want to know when checking google.

I will have 2 or 3 devices pumping out data on a 100Base-T port. The combined data rate of all devices is about 15KB/S which exceeds the optimal 100Base-T channel capacity (12KB/S), but well within the realms of a 1000Base-T connection. Each device will be sending a burst of data in the form of an FTP transfer to a common, single host computer in a sequential manner ie:

1. Device A establishes FTP connection and transfers data
2. Device B establishes FTP connection and transfers data
3. Device C establishes FTP connection and transfers data

It may be that the A&B, B&C and C&A transfers overlap in the time domain to some extent.

There will be minimal traffic going back from the computer to each device (in general what ever is needed to support the FTP transfers), and the network will be dedicated to transferring data between these devices and the host computer.

Is it possible to use a switch to combine the multiple incoming 100Base-T streams into a single outgoing 1000Base-T stream? if so what features in a switch should I be looking for?

Or would it be better to have 3 physical point-to-point 100Base-T dedicated connections between each device and the host computer? (thus having at least 3 physical Ethernet interfaces on that computer)

Note that I can't change the interface on the devices, but I am free to choose the network and host computer configuration.

Thanks for you help

Peter