is_s440@ux.kingston.ac.uk (07/12/90)
We bought two Kinetics Fastpaths just over a year ago. For political reasons they were only put into service recently. Both of these pieces of hardware have gone seriously wrong and had to be returned to the manufacturers in the States for repair, one within days of setup and the other a matter of weeks later. Now the unit lent to us by the supplier in lieu has been acting up - seemingly when it gets over hot. I switched it off and after it had cooled off, worked fine again (for how long remains to be seen). Date: Wed, 11 Jul 90 20:21:37 GMT From: is_s440@ux Sender: is_s440@ux Have any other KFP users had problems - especially with boxes of a similar age? I wonder whether there was some design fault, now fixed (or not as the case may be). Should we have invested in some other router - Gatorbox for instance? Simon Lucas slucas@jetta.king.ac.uk
Beattie@SYSTEM-M.PHX.BULL.COM (Art Beattie) (07/12/90)
There are a number of questions I could ask about your problems with the FastPaths (now supported by Shiva); Using FastPath-4s? Phase1 or phase 2? What were the symptoms of your problems? We have 10 FastPath-4 units that are online. We only use the PROM code, ie, AppleTalk Phase 1. We have no need to concern ourselves (yet!) with supporting a lot of Macs/PCs on our Ethernet backbone. All of our approximately 500 users except the 10 Ethernet connected Macs are connected to our AppleTalk network with Localtalk. Each FastPath creates a separate zone on the network so on average we have about 50 connections per zone. In each zone we first connect the users using backbone telco wiring (no more than 10-12 RJ11 jacks on each port) to a Farallon StarController. The StarControllers are then connected together and then to the FastPath. The only problems we have seen with them is keeping their internal battery charged and heavy network activity. 1) The initial FastPath-4s had a design problem in the internal cabling of the unit which didn't keep the internal battery charged which kept power to the RAMs that hold the configuration data. They ended up coming out with 2 changes to fix this problem. When the unit failed and was accessed by "FastPath Manager", it looked like the unit had just come out of the box, no configuration data, no net numbers, no zone names, etc. The sticker on the new unit I got (last week) is at Rev J, with ECN2506. This sticker is on the bottom and displays the current status of the unit along with the enthernet address. 2) The heavy network activity problem has not been resolved. I had talked to someone at Kinetics about 2 months before Shiva took over the product (June 1 of this year, I think) and they said that they where working on a PROM change for the problem. I asked Shiva about it last week and they had not heard about the problem or the PROM change. All our units are running with revision 4.1 PROMs. This problem only occurs with whatever unit that defines one of our zones. We know we are overloading this particular zone as it has 5 Sitka (alias TOPS) InBox mail servers, 2 AppleShare servers and several print spoolers for printers in other zones (this is not recommended!). However, the problem is that the FastPath slows way down to a crawl which seems unnecessary. It should just plateau at whatever rate it can handle. I had noticed after we had our units for a while that they ran hot. Some of our units are operating in wiring closets that are not well ventilated but seem to be working OK. I have heard that Kinetics claimed that the components were operating within their specified operating temperature limits. Shiva claims that some are operating 15 degrees overtemp. The committee is still out on this problem. One big reason for staying with the PROM code and AppleTalk Phase1 is that when power failures occur (our monsoon season, about 2 months long, involves thunder storms that our power utilities cannot deal with), the units have to reloaded with the KStar software. I don't like the idea of getting into the plant just to load up 10 units in the middle of the night. They supposedly have remote boot capability but we don't have the resources to support that functionality. If the KStar software were put in PROMs, then maybe I would consider it. I hear the Shiva is also considering it. Art Beattie Bull HN Information Systems Phoenix, AZ
dees@sid.sps.mot.com (Randy Dees) (07/12/90)
In article <9007112021.aa14068@gallia.ux.King.AC.UK>, is_s440@ux.kingston.ac.uk writes: > > Have any other KFP users had problems - especially with boxes of > a similar age? I wonder whether there was some design fault, now > fixed (or not as the case may be). > Our network has more than 75 fastpaths on it and haven't had that many problems with the boxes. new boxes have continually been added to the network over the past 3-4 years. last year we converted our old fastpath 3's to fastpath 4's. some fastpath 4's had a problem with the power supply connection, but that's the first thing they would check and fix if a box were returned to them for repair.-- -<(randy dees)>- dees@sid.sps.mot.com or uunet!motsps!sid.sps.mot.com!dees or 4100768@mcimail.com
minshall@kinetics.com (Greg Minshall) (07/12/90)
In article <900712072314.754849@SYSTEM-M.PHX.BULL.COM> Beattie@SYSTEM-M.PHX.BULL.COM (Art Beattie) writes: ... >One big reason for staying with the PROM code and AppleTalk Phase1 is >that when power failures occur (our monsoon season, about 2 months long, >involves thunder storms that our power utilities cannot deal with), the >units have to reloaded with the KStar software. Actually, the software will stay loaded over a power failure (assuming the battery is working), as will configuration information. The one thing that will not stay loaded is the so-called "atalkatab information", which is only needed in large, TCP/IPish sites which already have a server around. Greg Minshall Novell, Inc. minshall@wc.novell.com 1-415-975-4507
max@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Max Tardiveau) (07/14/90)
Well, I'm glad to see that I am not alone in this situation.
I have had serious problems with my FastPath 4 too. I had to
return it twice, and now it is working almost perfectly, but not
quite. It still looses zones once in a while.
MacUser had a test comparing routers recently, and they chose
the FastPath 4 over Gatorbox and others. That doesn't say much
for these others .
Max
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INET: max@pnet51.orb.mn.orgbrad@CAYMAN.COM (07/14/90)
>> Date: 13 Jul 90 23:25:02 GMT >> From: uc!cs.umn.edu!kksys!orbit!pnet51!max@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Max Tardiveau) >> Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN. >> Subject: Re: KFatPath: Reliability? >> >> Well, I'm glad to see that I am not alone in this situation. >> I have had serious problems with my FastPath 4 too. I had to >> return it twice, and now it is working almost perfectly, but not >> quite. It still looses zones once in a while. >> MacUser had a test comparing routers recently, and they chose >> the FastPath 4 over Gatorbox and others. That doesn't say much >> for these others . Woa! I will take issue with this. I submit that your problems with the KFPS-4 were hardware related. The MacUser article said *nothing* about hardware reliability. It focused on the speed and consistancy of appletalk routing. Something to remember: Software is field upgradable with a GatorBox; It comes on a diskette. Hardware reliability can not be retro-fitted. (disclaimer: I work for cayman - I have a vested interested in this issue) -brad
roger@gaudi.CSUFresno.EDU (Roger Tucker) (07/16/90)
We are currently testing some FastPaths with ventilation holes drilled in the sides and top of the case. It appears to have taken care of overheating problems. The modified boxes are being tested in a dust- free environment. I still don't have a solution for boxes overheating in dusty environments or in the field. --roger -- Roger Tucker University Computer Services Software Specialist California State University roger@gaudi.CSUFresno.EDU Fresno, CA 93740