smwall@pica.army.mil (Steve Wall, AMCPM-HIP) (05/25/90)
Two weeks ago I posted a request for information regarding the effect an internet router would have on it's host. The responses I received were very helpful. My thanks to all responders. Overall, the consensus was that the hardware routers are better. One responder quoted Apple documentation for the Internet Router which recommends using the Internet Router in a dedicated system only, or an Appleshare Server. The person using the Mac which holds the card will lose almost all of his CPU to the internet router, not just "a few thousand clock cycles here or there". In our office, this would be unacceptable. The users would do rash things like pressing the restart button, or just queue up lots of "Cmd-Q"s, "Cmd-."s, etc. There's also the problem of application software crashing the host system, and thereby breaking the internet connection. This could drive network users crazy. A lot of folks in my office resurrect old, obsolete and non-Multi- Finder compatible software and try to use it, no matter what they're told, so I see this as being much too likely to be acceptable too. I've compiled the responses as a long text file, and am willing to forward it if anyone asks. Steve Wall Domain: smwall@pica.army.mil Bitnet: Smwall@DACTH01.BITNET