From owner-freebsd-questions Tue Jun 11 10:02:11 1996 Return-Path: owner-questions Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id KAA12034 for questions-outgoing; Tue, 11 Jun 1996 10:02:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: from halloran-eldar.lcs.mit.edu (halloran-eldar.lcs.mit.edu [18.26.0.159]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id KAA12025 for ; Tue, 11 Jun 1996 10:02:07 -0700 (PDT) Received: by halloran-eldar.lcs.mit.edu; (5.65/1.1.8.2/19Aug95-0530PM) id AA25077; Tue, 11 Jun 1996 12:59:58 -0400 Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 12:59:58 -0400 From: Garrett Wollman Message-Id: <9606111659.AA25077@halloran-eldar.lcs.mit.edu> To: "Christoph P. Kukulies" Cc: freebsd-questions@freefall.FreeBSD.org Subject: FreeBSD as a 100Mbit router In-Reply-To: <199606101712.TAA29934@gilberto.physik.rwth-aachen.de> References: <199606101712.TAA29934@gilberto.physik.rwth-aachen.de> Sender: owner-questions@FreeBSD.ORG X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk < said: > Anyone having experience with 100Mbit technology? > I'm thinking of building a router from our campus FDDI ring to > 100MBit Fast Ethernet. > Using a P5 and PCI bus what hardware could be recommended? Something based on a Triton or Triton II chipset (or whatever Intel has decided to call them this week). The P6 chipsets are not as good as yet. For the Ethernet, I would recommend any board supported by the `de' driver; we use DEC DE500-XAs because they were the only ones available when we bought them. For FDDI, there is only one choice; the only driver we have is for the the DEC DEFPA card. > What router throughput could be expected? You should be able to forward large packets at line rate. Smaller packets are significantly more expensive. > BTW, how reliable is 100BaseT technology? As reliably as regular Ethernet, provided you stay within the design limits. > What does the physical layer look like? Twisted pair phone line > (2 wire, shielded)? what type are the connectors and wall outlets? It's category 5 UNshielded twisted-pair centered in an eight-position modular connector (RJ-45? you may have a different local standard number). -GAWollman -- Garrett A. Wollman | Shashish is simple, it's discreet, it's brief. ... wollman@lcs.mit.edu | Shashish is the bonding of hearts in spite of distance. Opinions not those of| It is a bond more powerful than absence. We like people MIT, LCS, ANA, or NSA| who like Shashish. - Claude McKenzie + Florent Vollant