baw@sharkey.cc.umich.edu (Brian Wolfe) (07/18/89)
I have about $6000 (at most $8000) to bridge 3 standard ethernet subnets,
so far the best deal I can find is on 2 of Retix' low-end bridges that
are rated for 6000 'frames/second'... is that fast enough for joining segments
that have about 10 hosts each?? Security is something of an issue since
there is clinical data on some hosts and research data on others, so I would
like some control over access.
So far I've looked at bridges from Micom, Raycom, Retix and DEC, are there
any other vendors that I should try?
Are there any bridges that I should avoid like the plague?
I would appreciate any recommendations you may have and I will gladly
post a summary to the net!
Thanks,
Brian.
--
Brian Wolfe Internet: baw@terminator.cc.umich.edu
Systems Analyst UUCP: {rutgers,uunet}!sharkey!brian
Henry Ford Hospital Voice: (313)-876-7461
Detroit, MI 48202 FAX: (313)-875-0315morgan@Jessica.stanford.edu (RL "Bob" Morgan) (07/18/89)
> I have about $6000 (at most $8000) to bridge 3 standard ethernet > subnets, I have about $6000 (at most $8000) to bridge 3 standard > ethernet subnets, ... so far I've looked at bridges from Micom, > Raycom, Retix and DEC, are there any other vendors that I should try? There are some innaresting new products out there. A couple of companies make bridges based on the IBM-PC card form factor, including Network Application Technology, in Cupertino at 408-733-4530, and Alantec in Fremont at 415-770-1050. The NAT unit is a complete 2-port bridge on a board, so it just uses the PC chassis for power, while the Alantec uses the PC processor to handle the packets, so you can do slow and cheap with an 8088 or fast and expensive with a 386. I think they're both shipping product these days. Cabletron also has a new bridge product out, in the normal sort of package. All of these are in the same sort of price range as the low-end Retix, I believe. Features that are starting to be available in low-end bridges, besides the low price, are management (preferably IP-based, in our case), and doing the (or a) spanning-tree algorithm. It seems we may have to wait a bit for generally interoperable 802.2 spanning-tree implementations. > ... so far the best deal I can find is on 2 of Retix' low-end bridges > that are rated for 6000 'frames/second'... is that fast enough for > joining segments that have about 10 hosts each?? The obvious question is what kind of traffic will be going across the bridges? If it's just rlogin, then there's certainly no problem. If you're doing NFS from diskless Sun clients across a bridge, you might want to think twice, although we have successfully done that experimentally across Retix bridges here. > Security is something of an issue since there is clinical data on some > hosts and research data on others, so I would like some control over > access. My attitude is that depending on a bridge to provide security is like sawing wood with a hammer. Are your hosts not secure, or are you worried about people tapping your cable? I don't think any of the low end bridges provide user-manageable filters.
macklin@garnet.berkeley.edu (Macklin Burnham) (07/19/89)
If you can find a copy of last week's Network World (July 17 issue), their feature article was on ethernet bridges. They included a big chart with the detailed features and prices of offerings from 25 vendors. This is a pretty worthwhile publication, BTW. Mack Burnham
pst@anise.acc.com (Paul Traina) (07/20/89)
baw@sharkey.cc.umich.edu (Brian Wolfe) writes: >So far I've looked at bridges from Micom, Raycom, Retix and DEC, are there >any other vendors that I should try? [WARNING: I am slightly biased toward this company!] You are about to read a semi-plug, the info contained within is not sanctioned by anyone of any responsibility at ACC. Cavet emptor. Advanced Computer Communications makes two lines of bridges, one is called the 4030 and the other is the 4110. The 4110 just had first-customer-ship last week. I'm not a member of the Bridge & Router group, but I have heard them say all sorts of really nice things about it (and we're not talking marketing BS either). I do know the 4110 standard configuration is 1 ethernet link and 2 serial links (HDLC I believe). The serial links can clock up to T1 and pass data up to (don't quote me) 1.3mbits/sec. I don't know what the filter rate and flow rate are, but they're supposedly pretty damn fast. I do know that it supports all of the wonderful filtering/priority gizmos that you would expect on a brand new bridge. It is controllable by a SNMP (simple network management protocol) station, and uses STP (spanning tree protocol) for proper negotiation. I don't know if the current release supports transparent spanning protocol (TSP?), but it may. The same bridge can be turned into a router or brouter (products not being shipped yet) just by dropping a new floppy into it. There is also an 8-link version of the box ready to ship (it's actually 4 4110's glued together and stuffed in the same box). Since I only know about dribs and drabs (it is not my baby), if you want more (and accurate) info, drop a note to Gary Krall (gary@salt.acc.com), or Paul Shrieve (paul@salt.acc.com). who are the marketing guys who know what is going on. -- "Calling people sexist because they are into S/M is like calling people capitalist because they like to play Monopoly(TM)." -- `Ask Aunt Sadie' / the Ministry of Truth