liam@cs.qmw.ac.uk (William Roberts;) (05/28/91)
In <7661@segue.segue.com> gene@segue.segue.com (Gene Hightower) writes: >Other vendors (Sun included) give you ethernet and much better video >systems as standard features not requiring extra cards. The IIci, LC and IIsi have pretty fair built in video (the IIsi will support a large display, though it's a few rows less than the standard Sun monitor). I actually view coprocessor Ethernet cards as a significant advantage: in my NFS server benchmarking work (paper available) there is a test which measures just CPU+Ethernet performance. The fastest machine I tested wasn't the Sun4, nor the SPARCStation 1+, nor the SLC, but the Mac IIfx: the IIfx was faster by about 15%. The new Apple ethernet cards are A/ROSE capable, so even more of the protocol processing could (and should) be pushed into the card: alas A/UX 2.0.1 is still not using the processor on the card, but hopefully this will come. On the other hand, having to find an extra power point for the "AUI adaptor" (thick Ethernet) is really annoying. Apple people tell me it's because of NuBus power budgets etc, but I see it as a reason for buying non Apple cards... -- William Roberts Internet: liam@dcs.qmw.ac.uk Queen Mary & Westfield College UUCP: liam@qmw-dcs.UUCP Mile End Road AppleLink: UK0087 LONDON, E1 4NS, UK Tel: +44 71-975 5234 (Fax: +44 81-980 6533)