Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 08:54:31 -0800 From: dan@wolf.com To: Richard Cownie <tich@ma.ikos.com>, dan@wolf.com, freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: PCI WinModem Message-ID: <19990310085431.C12209@ns.wolf.com> In-Reply-To: <199903101637.LAA20496@lonesome.ma.ikos.com>; from Richard Cownie on Wed, Mar 10, 1999 at 11:37:54AM -0500 References: <199903101637.LAA20496@lonesome.ma.ikos.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> I don't understand this reasoning. A PCI WinModem is cheaper, > probably more reliable (because there's less hardware to get broken), > and apparently just as fast. A technical solution which is cheap, > reliable, and fast seems like a Very Good Idea to me. Peripheral > processing only "belongs" in the peripheral if there's some advantage > to having it there (and for most people compatibility with FreeBSD/Linux > doesn't win any points). There are some major arguments with respect to OS design issues, but my biggest argument is this: modem design is a highly technical issue requiring a great deal of specialized knowledge, and running a modem properly requires a lot of control over low-level issues, including such concerns as processor availability. If you are sitting on a lightly-loaded machine that isn't doing anything else, maybe you can get decent performance out of a winmodem. What happens when you start running a serious number-crunching app that monopolizes the CPU? Does your connection just slow down, or does the machine drop your connection altogether? How much processing horsepower do we allow the modem driver to grab? How willing are you to allow your OS manufacturer to screw up your modem functions by horsing around with the OS internals? Sorry, maybe I've just been in the business too long, but to my way of thinking modem processing belongs in the modem, printer processing belongs in the printer, etc. Maybe it makes sense to some folks to let the OS do the work of peripheral processors just because you've got some CPU cycles available, but I don't grok it. Dan Mahoney dan@wolf.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?19990310085431.C12209>