oberman@LLL-ICDC.ARPA ("Oberman, Kevin") (09/05/86)
>1) How about a DELNI that acts like real transceivers? The current >DELNI sends back heartbeat to everybody. Real transceivers would only >send heartbeat to the node that was transmitting. Actually, the heartbeat should be switchable, like the rumored H4005, on a per-line basis. >2) How about DEREPs that work with DELNIs? I'm not sure what this means. Since a DEREP ties to the coax, what would it have to do with a DELNI? >6) Bigger DELNIs? We have several places where we could use a 16 port >DELNI. And since you can't cascade CONNECTED DELNIs, we have to use >two transceivers. Time to plead ignorance again. What do you mean by CONNECTED DELNIs? We have 3 DELNIs cascaded into a fourth and it seems to work just fine. In what way are the not connected. >7) Is the H4005 real? Do I have to wait for the Easter bunny? The last I heard, this is probably about right. The latest rumor was that the H4005 would not show up until at least March. (of 1987?) Until then DEC would ship H4000s to fill orders already received. When the H4005 comes out, the units would be upgraded. THIS IS NOT CONFIRMED BY ANYONE I HAVE SPOKEN WITH IN DEC! It does seem reasonable, however. R. Kevin Oberman LLNL ARPA: oberman@lll-icdc (415)422-6955 ------
phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) (09/06/86)
I was cleaning out some old files and thought I would respond to this. Sorry if you've already resolved it but perhaps others would be interested. > We just got our third DELNI in today, and on p. 6 of the "DELNI > Installation/Owner's Manual" there's a reference to an "optional > rack mount assembly" called a DEXRM that's supposedly available in > the DECdirect catalog. We can't find it in DECdirect, in the GSA > catalog, in the Networking Catalog, or get any info from our DEC > salesman. (Anyone surprised?) > > The DELNI manual is dated June 1984. I thought I saw lots of > rack-mounted DELNIs at DEC-world. > > Does the DEXRM really exist, and what is its real name? Oh, > and details like price would be interesting, too. > > Thanks, > Dick Dramstad > rad@mitre-bedford.arpa I have been in contact with a person at DEC about this. Apparently the DEXRM got quite far along the productization process before getting killed. No reason for killing it was given. He said he was trying to get the rack mounts added to the DELNI's parts list so that it would just come with the DELNI. This would be nice if it happened. I got five DELNIs yesterday and none of them had rack mounts. I think I'll write to my contact and ask if he's making any progress on this. Incidentally I'm getting tired of taking the plastic skins off every piece of DEC Ethernet equipment so I can put them in a rack. I wish DEC would offer a skinless version of their products. In case you feel the same way I do, you can write to Graham Slieker, who is some kind of former engineer turned product marketing manager. He seemed pretty reasonable although probably hampered by trying to get a company as large as DEC to change. His Internet address is: dec-derep!slieker@decwrl.dec.com If you're fully domainized I imagine this would work too: slieker@derep.dec.com On the uucp side of things, try decwrl!dec-derep!slieker I suppose you could address some other issues with him too. Things like: 1) How about a DELNI that acts like real transceivers? The current DELNI sends back heartbeat to everybody. Real transceivers would only send heartbeat to the node that was transmitting. 2) How about DEREPs that work with DELNIs? 3) How about a rack mount DEREP? I can take the skin off the DEREP but it's incredibly ugly and I have to put it on a shelf instead of doing a true rack mount. 4) How about fiber optic equipment that works well with other fiber sizes than 100 micron? DEC's equipment only supports 10 dB of loss. (with 2.5 dB aging margin, 12.5 dB at installation) Other vendors can handle as much as 16 dB. Could we get data on distance limitations when foreign fiber sizes are used? 5) Why did they turn the DEBET's transceiver cable connector upside down with respect to the DEREP? Did they think customers wanted variety? Our cables are stiff enough that turning the cable 180 degrees is not easy. It's not hard but I see no benefit for this change. 6) Bigger DELNIs? We have several places where we could use a 16 port DELNI. And since you can't cascade CONNECTED DELNIs, we have to use two transceivers. 7) Is the H4005 real? Do I have to wait for the Easter bunny? Phil Ngai