evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) (06/12/91)
I have an application where I need to install 48, possibly more, serial
ports on an ESIX R4 machine. Presently we are looking at the schemes
that have one to four lines coming out of the AT-bus card, each running
to a multiplexer block with 8-24 ports. At least eight ports require
full modem control with hardware handshake, and I need to use RJ-45
connectors in order to reducde wiring headaches.
The boards being considered are:
Equinox Megaplex;
Corollory 8x4;
Digiboard Digichannel PC/16.
I would like to find out if anyone has carried out this kind of
evaluation to date, and how the boards (and their release 4 drivers)
stack up against each other in cost, performance and reliability.
Thank you.
--
Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!attcan!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504
"MS-DOS 4.0 was a ... learning experience" - Bill Gates, introducing DOS 5steve@ecf.toronto.edu (Steve Kotsopoulos) (06/13/91)
In article <28561A25.44D1@telly.on.ca> evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) writes: >I have an application where I need to install 48, possibly more, serial >ports on an ESIX R4 machine. Presently we are looking at the schemes >that have one to four lines coming out of the AT-bus card, each running >to a multiplexer block with 8-24 ports. At least eight ports require >full modem control with hardware handshake, and I need to use RJ-45 >connectors in order to reducde wiring headaches. > >The boards being considered are: >Equinox Megaplex; >Corollory 8x4; >Digiboard Digichannel PC/16. You may want to check out the Consensys Powerports/HD. They have an ad on page 26 of the May 13 Unix Today. Call their 1-800 number. -- Steve Kotsopoulos mail: steve@ecf.utoronto.ca Systems Analyst bitnet: steve@ecf.UTORONTO.BITNET Engineering Computing Facility uucp: uunet!utai!ecf!steve University of Toronto phone: (416) 978-5898
kherron@ms.uky.edu (Kenneth Herron) (06/15/91)
In article <28561A25.44D1@telly.on.ca> evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) writes: >I have an application where I need to install 48, possibly more, serial >ports on an ESIX R4 machine. >...full modem control with hardware handshake, and I need to use RJ-45 >connectors in order to reducde wiring headaches. I just got back from USENIX, and ARNET was showing a board capable of running 128 serial ports from one PC slot. You can have up to four such boards in a machine. The serial ports are DB-25's, not RJ connectors, but I believe they have hardware handshake. All my paperwork on it is in the back of someone's car, but I can get you some info if you e-mail me. (Which raises the question, what would you do with 512 serial ports on a PC running unix?) -- Kenneth Herron kherron@ms.uky.edu University of Kentucky +1 606 257 2975 Department of Mathematics "So this won't be a total loss, can you make it so guys get to throw their mothers-in-law in?" "Sure, why not?"
bginn@crash.cts.com (Bruce Ginn) (06/16/91)
In <28561A25.44D1@telly.on.ca> evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) writes: >I have an application where I need to install 48, possibly more, serial >ports on an ESIX R4 machine. Presently we are looking at the schemes >that have one to four lines coming out of the AT-bus card, each running >to a multiplexer block with 8-24 ports. At least eight ports require >full modem control with hardware handshake, and I need to use RJ-45 >connectors in order to reducde wiring headaches. >The boards being considered are: >Equinox Megaplex; >Corollory 8x4; >Digiboard Digichannel PC/16. >stack up against each other in cost, performance and reliability. I've found that after evaluating all of the above (and then some) that the Corollary 8x4 solution offers the best *most* reliable system. This is for several reasons such as addressability, the ability to map the memory addresses above 16MB region and just downright reliable. Another item that might be of help is if you are intending to implement pass-thru printing on your system. Corollary handles it *much* better than anyone else. (this can save $$ weve found). Corollary tipically costs a little more but is worth it! (less grief.) If you need any more help or have any more questions, please send me some mail. I would be more than happy to answer them. Bruce >Thank you. You're welcome. E-mail: ..!crash!bginn Internet: bginn@crash.cts.com
mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) (06/16/91)
In article <28561A25.44D1@telly.on.ca> evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) writes: >I have an application where I need to install 48, possibly more, serial >ports on an ESIX R4 machine. >...full modem control with hardware handshake, and I need to use RJ-45 >connectors in order to reducde wiring headaches. The DigiBoard supports daisy-chaining up to 16 concentrators off each of the two RS-422 ports on the back of the card. Each concentrator has 16 RJ-45 ports on it, which means you can have a maximum of 512 ports. Drivers are available for SCO Unix, SCO Xenix, and generic Unix System Vr3.2. Dunno if SysVr4.0 drivers are available; talk to DigiComm about it. (Sorry, don't have contact info; the manuals are at work.) -- Marc Unangst | mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us | "Bus error: passengers dumped" ...!hela!mudos!mju |
larry@nstar.rn.com (Larry Snyder) (06/17/91)
mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) writes: >Unix System Vr3.2. Dunno if SysVr4.0 drivers are available; talk to >DigiComm about it. (Sorry, don't have contact info; the manuals are ahh talk to Digiboard - and yes - the SVR4 drivers are available -- Larry Snyder, NSTAR Public Access Unix 219-289-0287/317-251-7391 HST/PEP/V.32/v.32bis/v.42bis regional UUCP mapping coordinator {larry@nstar.rn.com, ..!uunet!nstar.rn.com!larry}
rhealey@digir4.digibd.com (Rob Healey) (06/20/91)
In article <P6NL43w164w@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us> mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) writes: >The DigiBoard supports daisy-chaining up to 16 concentrators off each >of the two RS-422 ports on the back of the card. Each concentrator >has 16 RJ-45 ports on it, which means you can have a maximum of 512 >ports. Drivers are available for SCO Unix, SCO Xenix, and generic >Unix System Vr3.2. Dunno if SysVr4.0 drivers are available; talk to >DigiComm about it. (Sorry, don't have contact info; the manuals are >at work.) > For info, call sales at 1-800-344-4273 or 612-943-9020 and ask for sales. They should be able to provide all the info you need on SVR4 and SVR3.2 drivers. -Rob -- Rob Healey rhealey@digibd.com Digi International (DigiBoard) Eden Prairie, MN (612) 943-9020
darryl@lemuria.MV.COM (Darryl P. Wagoner) (06/20/91)
In article <1991Jun13.144732.18366@ecf.toronto.edu> steve@ecf.toronto.edu (Steve Kotsopoulos) writes: >In article <28561A25.44D1@telly.on.ca> evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) writes: >>I have an application where I need to install 48, possibly more, serial >>ports on an ESIX R4 machine. Presently we are looking at the schemes >>that have one to four lines coming out of the AT-bus card, each running >>to a multiplexer block with 8-24 ports. At least eight ports require >>full modem control with hardware handshake, and I need to use RJ-45 >>connectors in order to reducde wiring headaches. >> >>The boards being considered are: >>Equinox Megaplex; >>Corollory 8x4; >>Digiboard Digichannel PC/16. > >You may want to check out the Consensys Powerports/HD. >They have an ad on page 26 of the May 13 Unix Today. Call their 1-800 number. >-- Be careful of Consensys. I couldn't get the powerport 8 to work on ISC 2.2. I didn't think much of there tech support either, all they could do was bad mouth our hardware and OS. For what my company spent on me trying to get this board to work they could have bought 10 Comtrol boards. Oh well it is their money. Comtrol on the other hand worked very well. -- Darryl Wagoner darryl@lemuria.MV.COM or uunet!virgin!lemuria!darryl 12 Oak Hill Road Brookline, NH 03033 Office: 603.672.0736 Home: 603.673.0578
larry@nstar.rn.com (Larry Snyder) (06/22/91)
darryl@lemuria.MV.COM (Darryl P. Wagoner) writes: >Comtrol on the other hand worked very well. I would stay away from Comtrol as well - they layed off a good portion of the staff - and are going through some rough times.. Digiboard on the other hand is very stable and solid - and their boards work rather well -- Larry Snyder, NSTAR Public Access Unix 219-289-0287/317-251-7391 HST/PEP/V.32/v.32bis/v.42bis regional UUCP mapping coordinator {larry@nstar.rn.com, ..!uunet!nstar.rn.com!larry}
dlr@daver.bungi.com (Dave Rand) (06/22/91)
In article <1991Jun19.230325.5869@lemuria.MV.COM> darryl@lemuria.UUCP (Darryl P. Wagoner) writes: >Be careful of Consensys. I couldn't get the powerport 8 to work on >ISC 2.2. I didn't think much of there tech support either, all they >could do was bad mouth our hardware and OS. For what it is worth, I'm running a powerport 8 on ISC 2.2 (on a compaq systempro). It is great! With 5 19.2K (4 telebits and a direct link) running, I see a system load of a few percent (<5), and a user load of 10-20%. Heaps of idle time. Amazingly easy install, trivial to configure, and works well without having to reboot every other day. It is also the cheapest multiport board (>4 ports). I have nothing but good things to say about the company - delivery was on time, worked right out of the box (no jumpers to change, nothing to fiddle with to make it work). The documentation is sparse but adequate. I have not had time to check the powerprint feature, but it sounds like they did that exactly right too. All in all, a well done product in my opinion. I have no connection to the company other than being a very satisfied customer. -- Dave Rand {pyramid|mips|bct|vsi1}!daver!dlr Internet: dlr@daver.bungi.com