dennis@peanuts.nosc.mil (Dennis Cottel) (01/24/89)
We have all our 40-odd Apollos connected in one ring with Apollo's Domain network. Suppose we moved to a building that was already wired for Ethernet. Does anyone have experience running a ring of this size on Ethernet rather than the Domain network? Does it work? And can you compare the speed of network operations to Apollo's token ring network? Thanks. Dennis Cottel Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, CA 92152 (619) 553-1645 dennis@nosc.MIL sdcsvax!noscvax!dennis
giebelhaus@hi-csc.UUCP (Timothy R. Giebelhaus) (01/29/89)
In article <865@nosc.NOSC.MIL> dennis@peanuts.nosc.mil.UUCP (Dennis Cottel) writes: >We have all our 40-odd Apollos connected in one ring with Apollo's >Domain network. Suppose we moved to a building that was already wired >for Ethernet. Does anyone have experience running a ring of this size >on Ethernet rather than the Domain network? Does it work? And can >you compare the speed of network operations to Apollo's token ring >network? Thanks. I'm glad you asked. I often help people who over load their network. It is much harder to rewire a building than to wire it the first time. A token ring network can handle a heavy load much better than an ethernet (references available on request: that is, they're at work as I use them pretty often). The fact that a token ring can handle a heavy load is a general fact; not specific to Apollos. Most networks of workstations generate a pretty heavy load. Diskless nodes will generate traffic very quickly. Centeralized CAD libraries can also generate a lot of traffic. The newer multi-node backup software will generate much traffic. So, unless your nodes pretty much keep to themselves, I would use two ethernets or one ring. You could probably get away with one ethernet, but you will quite likely notice degradation. If you have very heavy traffic now, you will want three or four ethernets or one ring. There is no doubt that one network is easier to administer than several gatewayed networks, so I would use the ring. -- UUCP: uunet!hi-csc!giebelhaus UUCP: tim@apollo.uucp ARPA: hi-csc!giebelhaus@umn-cs.arpa ARPA: tim@apollo.com Tim Giebelhaus, Apollo Computer, Regional Software Support Specialist. My comments and opinions have nothing to do with work.