chris@mddc.UUCP (Chris Maloney) (02/24/84)
I have to configure a system with several VAX connect to
terminals and each other by Ethernet. Seperate Ethernets
will be used for Cpu-Cpu comm and Cpu-Terminal comm.
Can anyone comment on the following Ethernet hardware?
Ungermann Bass NIU
Ungermann Bass Net One
Bridge Communications equipment
CS/1 and CS/100 Communications Servers
GS/1 and GS/3 Gateway Servers
What is the best Ethernet controller for a VAX? We can
assume the driver will take full advantage of the controller.
DEC DEUNA
3 COM
Ungermann Bass via DR11
Interlan
Are there Others?
Is there a Ethernet Manager/Moniter Device?
Any other comments about Ethernet hardware would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris Maloney
Management Decisions Development Corp.
7209 Dixie Highway
Fairfield, Ohio 45014
(513)874-6464
...{ucbvax,decvax,inhp4,mhuxi}!cbosgd!qusavx!mddc!chris (uucp)
cbosgd!qusavx!mddc!chris@BERKELEY (arpa)v.wales%ucla-locus@sri-unix.UUCP (03/01/84)
From: Rich Wales <v.wales@ucla-locus>
In reply to the inquiry by Chris Maloney <cbosgd!qusavx!mddc!chris> for
information about Ethernet interfaces and peripherals:
We have had quite a bit of experience lately with the Bridge CS/1 as a
terminal multiplexer. On the whole, they have worked well, but we have
had to work closely with Bridge to get various bugs and glitches ironed
out of the devices, and we also had to make some accommodations in our
system software to take good advantage of them.
I am preparing a paper on our experience with the CS/1's which I hope to
present at the June USENIX conference, and in order not to deflate said
presentation I would rather not go into great detail right now as to how
we coped with the CS/1. However, I am willing to say this much now:
(1) We had to modify our DZ driver to do CTS/RTS-compatible flow con-
trol via the "ring" signal. (I plan to show how we did this in my
USENIX paper, so please don't ask me to post the mods now.)
(2) Some problems exist in accommodating different terminal speeds. We
don't lose any data to slow terminals, owing to the flow control
alluded to above, but there is no way to tell the computer what
speed the terminal is really set to, so software that does variable
padding based on the baud rate tends to lose out.
(3) There is currently no way for the computer to get the CS/1 network
to tell where a given user's terminal is (sort of like the phone
company's not telling you the number of the person calling you).
This has obvious system security implications.
-- Rich <v.wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA>
<...!ucbvax!ucla-vax!wales>chip@t4test.UUCP (Chip Rosenthal) (04/01/84)
The Ungerman/Bass NIU is a box which sits on ethernet, and has
several RS-232's coming out of it. Your VAX would talk to the
network via RS-232.
Something like the 3Com system, on the other hand, would have
the VAX talk directly upon the net via the ethernet interface
card.
Chip Rosenthal, Intel/Santa Clara
{pur-ee,hplabs,ucbvax!amd70,ogcvax!omsvax}!intelca!t4test!chip