EVERHART%ARISIA.DECnet@GE-CRD.ARPA (06/30/88)
Paul Clayton is right in pointing out the Ethernet performance advantages. Be aware that anyone with a PC on that same ethernet, or anyone who can use promiscuous mode on any other machine, can see ANY traffic on the Ethernet, though. A separate net for LATs is sometimes used. E-net dumpers are short things (100 lines) so you cannot count on the complexity of decoding packets to keep things secure. This vulnerability can also be addressed by encryption boxes, LAN bridges (keep PCs on a separate segment of your Ethernet), and/or by manufacturers adding some encryption to their protocols; the last has been suggested but not yet implemented (so far as I know, which isn't too far.) LAN bridges run less than $10K and may be excellent investments in this environment.