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Date:      Tue, 9 Jul 2002 14:44:36 -0600
From:      Ken Gunderson <kgunders@hpb50341.boi.hp.com>
To:        Mike Tancsa <mike@sentex.net>
Cc:        freebsd-stable@freebsd.org, freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: intel etherexpress pro and fxp status??
Message-ID:  <20020709144436.B12572@kasilof.boi.hp.com>
In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.0.20020709125431.03fade00@marble.sentex.ca>; from mike@sentex.net on Tue, Jul 09, 2002 at 01:43:45PM -0400
References:  <20020709102153.A14126@kasilof.boi.hp.com> <5.1.0.14.0.20020709125431.03fade00@marble.sentex.ca>

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On Tue, Jul 09, 2002 at 01:43:45PM -0400, Mike Tancsa wrote:
> 
> Stick with the fxp. I suspect its a popular card in FreeBSD land so by that 
> very nature you are going to see more "problem" reports even if those 
> reports have nothing to do with the fxp and more to do with other issues 
> (e.g. hardware interaction between the card and the MB, PE, etc).
> 
> Think of it this way: Lets say for arguments sake 1% of all FreeBSD problem 
> reports are a result of pilot error and erroneously blame the NIC and or 
> the NIC driver.  And again for arguments sake lets say 100,000 FreeBSD 
> users out there.  If 30% use the Intel, and the next most popular card is 
> lets say the realtek at 5% FreeBSD market share, the realtek will "seem" 
> like a more reliable card since there are less problem reports. Using the 
> sample numbers above, we would see 300 erroneous reports for the Intel vs. 
> 50 reports on the realtek.  Long story short, be careful about looking at 
> the raw numbers of problem reports as an indicator of how reliable the NIC is.
> 
>          ---Mike
> 
> 
> 
> At 10:21 AM 09/07/2002 -0600, Ken Gunderson wrote:
> >Greets All:
> >
> >during the 4.6rc era i recall there were issues with intel ether
> >pro and fxp drivers, particularly with smp boxes.  Searching
> >pr's i note there are numerous open issues as well.  in the past
> >the fbsd nic mantra has always been "intel ether express".  Is
> >such still the case with the 82559 based nics (e.g. pila 8460),
> >or should I be looking elsewhere? Note that one of my boxes is a
> >dual pii 450 on a bx board.
> >
> >
> >Please cc, as I am no longer subscribed to the list (thanks to
> >the phb's)
> >
> >
> >--
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Ken Gunderson (non-HP)
> >HP-UX Systems Administrator
> >HP NAOD Front-line System Management
> >Boise Server Support Team
> >
> >
> >To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> >with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message

thanks for the reply.  i need about 5 additional cards for a
personal project and i didin't want to order the intels and end
up having to replace them.  interestingly enough, a co-worker
informs me these cards are causing a lot fo grief under load in
quite a number of linux boxes deployed in hp datacenters.
apparently the cards just become overwhelmed about once or twice
per month and just hang until reset.  chip in these cards is the
82557.  there were numerous issues with fxp around 4.6rc time,
and some rather long and involved threads discussing the
issueses.  i am just unsure as to the final outcome, however,
and i am curiosu whether this ended up being a driver or chipset
issue.  if fxp driver then i know fbsd developers are on teh
job, but if chipset, did the 82559 resolve the problem??
any clues??


-- 

Regards,

Ken Gunderson (non-HP)
HP-UX Systems Administrator
HP NAOD Front-line System Management
Boise Server Support Team
208-396-7926

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