darboux@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US (Eric Behr) (12/10/89)
In my continuing search for truth, I'm trying to gather some *facts* about IBM Token Rings and other vaguely related topics. I'd be grateful for assistance. If possible, please *do not reply to the net*, nor to this account; instead, please send mail to NBEHR@ECNCDC.BITNET. 1) A relatively recent (June 89) networking brochure from Apple (it looks like it's quite objectively written) states in a few places that Token Ring protocol yields throughput of 4 Mbit/s; a TR backbone which is about to be installed around here claims 16 Mbit/s. Is this a result of recent TR improvements? is one of these claims a lie? or are there various methods of measuring speed of networks? what's the bottom line? 2) Is it easy to connect an IBM mainframe to an Ethernet backbone? I know that TR's are gaining popularity, but at the moment it's easier to hook up various LANs (uVAX, Mac etc.-based) to Ethernet than to TR; we're facing the choice between making life difficult for the mainframe people, or for the several LAN managers. Really, I'm trying to determine which scheme would be significantly better: IBM mainframe + Ethernet + several assorted LANs, or IBM mainframe + Token Ring + several LANs (of which 95% use either Ethernet or Apple LocalTalk). Thanks a lot in advance. Again, please reply to NBEHR@ECNCDC.BITNET; I'll summarize if there's demand. Eric