schuette@orion.nrl.navy.mil (Larry Schuette) (06/12/91)
Discussions about PI ethernet cards and cables generated the following: >I have to disagree here; we have at least 4 PI's in my area with enp >boards in them, --->>> with standard thick ethernet drop cables in them, and >no problems closing up the case. <<<--- > > Dave Olson I have to respond to this 'cause, Dave, I strongly disagree. IMHO the ethernet connector on the PI is the PI's single biggest flaw. Yes, it is possible to connect the cable, and put the case back on the PI. It's even possible to get the connector to stay connected, until somebody bumps the machine with his feet (PI's end up under desks and "out of the way"). Of course, when the machine is bumped, the cable comes undone and the NFS disk farms begin to complain. And, my biggest complaint, I crawl under the desk (to the back of it with all the dust balls) to reconnect the cable. Our solution has been to: a. leave the plastic case off. b. Buy thickwire to thinwire converters. A question for SGI, why doesn't the PI (and the ASD machines) have a dual sex ethernet connector (thick or thin)? After all, our PC's, Mac's, and Vaxstation 2000's and NeXT's have them... Then I could use thinwire and somebody would have to "twist and pull" to disconnect ethernet, and the plastic case would fit nicely.
NAGY@NAGY.FNAL.GOV ("Frank J. Nagy:VAX Wizard&Loose Cannon") (06/13/91)
>>Our solution has been to: a. leave the plastic case off. b. Buy >>thickwire to thinwire converters. Have a look at the (relatively) new CableComm AUI-to-ThinWire transceivers. These units are smaller than a pack of cigarettes and cost less than $100. Plugged into the AUI port on a PI (note: w/o any AUI cable!) still leaves enough room to connect the ThinWire cable with its T-connector AND put the plastic skins back on the case! = Dr. Frank J. Nagy "VAX Guru & Wizard, Loose Cannon" = Fermilab Computing Division/Distributed Computing Dept/Special Projects Grp = HEPnet/SPAN: FNDCD::NAGY (43123::NAGY) or FNAL::NAGY (43009::NAGY) = Internet: NAGY@FNAL.FNAL.GOV = BitNet: NAGY@FNAL = USnail: Fermilab POB 500 MS/234 Batavia, IL 60510
olson@anchor.esd.sgi.com (Dave Olson) (06/13/91)
In <346@ra.nrl-cmf.UUCP> schuette@orion.nrl.navy.mil (Larry Schuette) writes: | Discussions about PI ethernet cards and cables generated the following: | >I have to disagree here; we have at least 4 PI's in my area with enp | >boards in them, --->>> with standard thick ethernet drop cables in them, and | >no problems closing up the case. <<<--- | > | > Dave Olson | | I have to respond to this 'cause, Dave, I strongly disagree. IMHO the | ethernet connector on the PI is the PI's single biggest flaw. | | Yes, it is possible to connect the cable, and put the case back on the PI. | It's even possible to get the connector to stay connected, until somebody | bumps the machine with his feet (PI's end up under desks and "out of the | way"). Of course, when the machine is bumped, the cable comes undone | and the NFS disk farms begin to complain. And, my biggest complaint, | I crawl under the desk (to the back of it with all the dust balls) to | reconnect the cable. I too, don't care for the design of the connectors a whole lot, but unfortunately, it IS a standard. If you close the lock on the connector (and you haven't already damaged it:)), it is moderately immune to casual kicks (I have mine under a desk also). Note that this has nothing to do with the original complaint of the cable keeping the case from being closed when the OPTIONAL enp VME ethernet card is installed. | A question for SGI, why doesn't the PI (and the ASD machines) have a | dual sex ethernet connector (thick or thin)? After all, our PC's, | Mac's, and Vaxstation 2000's and NeXT's have them... Then I could | use thinwire and somebody would have to "twist and pull" to disconnect | ethernet, and the plastic case would fit nicely. Because it increases parts count, increases cost, takes up limited space on the i/o panel, and as far as we could tell from research, most of our customers don't want the thinwire, because it is far easier to mess up a net. Please, no flame wars, I'm not personally involved in this, just reporting what I know from talking to the hardware design and marketing folks. -- Dave Olson Life would be so much easier if we could just look at the source code.
karsh@trifolium.esd.sgi.com (Bruce Karsh) (06/13/91)
In article <346@ra.nrl-cmf.UUCP> schuette@orion.nrl.navy.mil (Larry Schuette) writes: >I have to respond to this 'cause, Dave, I strongly disagree. IMHO the >ethernet connector on the PI is the PI's single biggest flaw. The Ethernet connector is Ethernet's single biggest flaw. It a (sub)standard though. >Yes, it is possible to connect the cable, and put the case back on the PI. >It's even possible to get the connector to stay connected, until somebody >bumps the machine with his feet (PI's end up under desks and "out of the >way"). Of course, when the machine is bumped, the cable comes undone >and the NFS disk farms begin to complain. And, my biggest complaint, >I crawl under the desk (to the back of it with all the dust balls) to >reconnect the cable. Some old ethernet tranceiver cables are very stiff. Others are more flexible. The one I'm using now is Cabletron P/N 9300045-10 and it works well in my PI. Also, make sure to close the latch on the connector properly. They're not great latches, but they are strong enough to withstand a fair degree of cable-handling. Bruce Karsh karsh@sgi.com
NAGY@NAGY.FNAL.GOV ("Frank J. Nagy:VAX Wizard&Loose Cannon") (06/13/91)
I made a slight mistake, the transceivers are CentreCOM model AT-MX10. I found an ad in Digital News (May 13th issue, page 17) by Allied Telesis,IOnc. for the units. Allied Telesis, Inc. 575 East Middlefield Rd. Mountain View, CA 94043 (415) 964-2771, FAX: (415) 964-0944 (800) 424-4284 From the ad: smallest transceivers today - plug directly into AUI female connectors no more AUI drop cables switch-selectable heartbeat, diagnostic indicators 2-year warranty 99.95 They also have the AT-210T for Twisted Pair connections. = Dr. Frank J. Nagy "VAX Guru & Wizard, Loose Cannon" = Fermilab Computing Division/Distributed Computing Dept/Special Projects Grp = HEPnet/SPAN: FNDCD::NAGY (43123::NAGY) or FNAL::NAGY (43009::NAGY) = Internet: NAGY@FNAL.FNAL.GOV = BitNet: NAGY@FNAL = USnail: Fermilab POB 500 MS/234 Batavia, IL 60510