haug@ka3ovk.uucp (Susan Haug) (08/18/89)
A few people have inquired about multiport boards. In the
June 5, 1989, _PC Week_, they reviewed eight add-in boards.
I will summarize the review and include vendor names and
addresses. I sent a letter to each company requesting spec.'s,
so if you need more information about any of these, let me know,
I'll be happy to share.
STALLION AT-16P and ONBOARD IOP-16P: The Stallion in 16-port
configuration is priced at $1,745; the ONboard with 16 ports and
256K bytes of RAM costs $1,895. Both models use an on-board
Intel Corp. 80186 processor. Vendor provides support for
Microport Unix, Interactive Unix, SCO Xenix, IBM AIX for the IBM
RT, MS-DOS and VP/ix. A device-driver-development kit is
available to allow installers to build customized support for
other systems.
Anvil Design, Inc.
4701 Patrick Henry Drive, Suite 2001
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(408) 988-3622
SMARTPORT: Comes with an Intel 80186 processor and 64K bytes of
dual-ported RAM, and connects via a 37-pin cable to an outboard
metal chassis sporting 16 DB25 connectors. Software drivers
available only for Xenix, other drivers are in development.
$2,095
Arnet Corp.
618 Grassmere Park Drive
Nashville, TN 37211
(800) 366-8844
INTELLIPORT AT16: Comes with an Intel 80186 processor and 64K
bytes or 256K bytes of zero-wait-state memory. Vendor provides
software drivers for Xenix, Unix, AIX, MS-DOS, PC/MOS, VP/ix and
a development kit. $1,695 w/64K and RJ45 modular connectors
($1,995 w/DB25 connectors). Expanding RAM to 256K costs $500.
Computone
1100 Northmeadow Parkway, Suite 150
Roswell, GA 30076
(404) 475-2725
POWERPORTS PWR-PAM: Base configuration supports eight ports;
another eight ports can be added through a daughter card. The
onboard processor is a 32-bit NS32000 from National Semiconductor
Corp.; memory is dual-ported, and the board comes with RJ45
modular jacks. Drivers available for Xenix, Everex Enix and the
Unix operating systems from AT&T, Interactive and Microport.
Comes with software that provides up to eight screens per
terminal. 16-port configuration is $1,450 with 128K bytes of
memory and $1,995 with 512K bytes.
Consensys Corp.
1301 Pat Booker Road
Universal City, TX 78148
(800) 387-8951
MCIO/16: Comes with a NEC V20 processor, DB9 port connectors,
32K bytes of ROM and 32K bytes of static RAM. The ROM contains
firmware that support all standard line protocols at speeds from
50 bps to 38.4K bps. Software drivers for Xenix, Interactive and
Microport versions of Unix, QNX/386, PC-MOS and Digital
Research's Concurrent DOS. Cost - $1,495
Dastra America Inc.
976 N. Lemon St.
Orange, CA 92667
(714) 633-2275
DIGICHANNEL PC/16I: Comes with an 80C186 processor, DB25-type
connectors and a choice of 128K bytes, 256K bytes or 512K bytes
of on-board zero-wait-state static RAM. Each port can be
individually configured to either RS-232C or RS-422 standards.
Comes with software that supports MS-DOS, OS/2, Xenix, VEnix,
Pick, THEOS, QNX, Multi-Link, Concurrent DOS, PC-MOS, VM/386 and
AT&T and Interactive versions of Unix. $1,995 with 128K bytes of
RAM, and $2,590 with 512K.
DigiBoard Inc.
6751 Oxford St.
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
(612) 922-0855
AT16 INTELLIGENT SERIAL I/O CONTROLLER: The AT16 has an Intel
80186 processor and 64K bytes of on-board RAM. An outboard box
holds 16 DB25 connectors configured as DCE only. Software drives
are provided for Xenix, Microport Unix and VP/ix. $1,295
MicroWay Inc.
P.O. Box 79
Kingston, MA 02364
(508) 746-7341
SI/16: Comes with a Zilog Z280 processor, 32K bytes of on-board
RAM and no ROM. All necessary software is provided on floppy
disk as opposed to on the ROM chip. This is the smallest of all
products reviewed. It connects to one or more outboard boxes,
each containing additional electronics and four or eight ports.
Boxes can be daisy-chained in any combination to obtain up to 16
ports (32 port model is also available). Supported systems
include PC-MOS, Xenix, Interactive Unix, and DOS-under-Unix
products such as VP/ix and DOS-merge. $1,495
Specialix Inc.
444 Castro St., Suite 408
Mountain View, CA 94041
(415) 969-8660
Hope this helps out somebody, this is my very first posting. ;-)
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