Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 21:16:14 -0700 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: dg@root.com, mturpin@shadow.spel.com, toasty@home.dragondata.com, hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Network adapters: Technical issues Message-ID: <4.1.19981216203941.063e26d0@mail.lariat.org> In-Reply-To: <199807181830.LAA01184@implode.root.com>
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Well, I've succeeded in finding some inexpensive 100BaseT PCI adapters for the clients around the lab. They use the DEC PCI chip, which is a reasonable tradeoff between speed and price. However, I am still trying to decide what to put in the servers. In the various catalogs I've searched, I see two adapters that use the Intel chips, which are reputed to have low overhead. However, nothing adequately describes the technical differences between them. I see an "Intel EtherExpress Pro/100+ PCI" adapter (consistently the most aggressively priced), an "Intel EtherExpress Pro/100 T4 PCI" card for about twice as much, and an "Intel Pro/100+ Server Adapter" priced somewhere in between. What are the differences between these models? (I understand that DG wrote the drivers for these.... David, can you offer some input?) Also, we have two problematic 486-based clients. One is a 486 with an EISA bus and another is a 486 with VLBus. EISA adapters about TRIPLE the going price, and I haven't found any VLBus cards at all. (Does anyone know if they exist?) Also, I'm aware that the practical throughput of 16-bit ISA is 5 MBps, while EISA and VLBus are both a LOT faster. Does it pay to use EISA or VLBus cards (if I can find them), or just stick to ISA on the assumption that a 486 can't really use the throughput anyway? Finally, if I go with ISA, PC Zone lists a KTI "32-bit ISA Combo Adapter" for $24. Is this a 100BaseTX card? (The catalog entry suspiciously leaves out the bit rate.) And, if so, is it supported by the RealTek driver for 2.2.x? I know that the above is a rather big jumble of questions, but I need to sort things out so that I make the right choices. --Brett To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message
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