Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 14:02:19 -0400 From: dennis <dennis@etinc.com> To: Jim Shankland <jas@flyingfox.com> Cc: isp@freebsd.org Subject: Re: interface card to connect 64k..256k to connect to internet Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970515140210.00a6a790@etinc.com>
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At 10:45 AM 5/15/97 -0700, you wrote: >dennis@etinc.com writes: > >> Also there exists the question: >> >> Since Saturn's are selling for about $12,000., is there still a market >> for Mercedes or Porche..or even the Toyota Camry? >> >> For a 56kbs line thats going to be 10% utilized, you are >> correct...perhaps the price isnt worth it. However, note that the >> lowest end Freebsd router can be built for about $900. and is much >> more functional and powerful and expandable than any of the above >> mini-routers you mentioned. > >Hmm. I assume you're not seriously claiming that the Livingston >OR-HS, say, can only handle a 10%-loaded 56 Kb line. But are you >saying it can't handle a full T1, as it's advertised to be able to do? A saturn can do 80Mph, but do you want to race a Porsche? If "handle" is what you are looking for, then buy the cheapest thing on the market, but MOST isps (hopefully yours and mine) care more about other such things. Imaging if your upstream provider connected you with a cheap box that could "handle" your T1? You'd be rather upset, I think. > >I'm not trying to bait anyone, by the way, just to elicit information. >My question, more precisely framed, is this: > >Suppose I have a FreeBSD box, appropriately configured for my needs, >and I want to interface it to a high-speed (well, up to T1) serial >line. I could: > >(1) buy a card from ET or SDL, and plunk it into the FreeBSD box; or > >(2) buy a low-end T1 router, and connect it via a crossover 10Base-T >cable to its own Ethernet card in the FreeBSD box. (Ought to be able >to gang 2-4 of these low-end routers onto one Ethernet interface in the >FreeBSD box, also.) Anyone who thinks that 4 low-end T1 routers are as good as 1 high-end pentium with 4 T1 port hasnt done it before......the inefficiencies (such as collisions) caused by 4 devices vs 1 is enough to sour that equation all by itself. > >In the past, one argument for option (1) has been that it was considerably >cheaper. This price difference is now much reduced, perhaps even >eliminated if you consider the integrated-CSU models. (And the >Pipeline 130 gives you a BRI port you can use as a backup link.) A DDS csu is < $200 and T1 $350....the cost points are similar. And I'll take the external unit so I dont have to replace the whole router if I get a hit or a failure as well. > >So my question is: what are the best arguments in favor of option (1)? >Note that the question is not FreeBSD vs. no FreeBSD. It's more >nearly a choice between an "outboard" WAN interface, and one installed >directly into the FreeBSD box. http://www.etinc.com/routers.htm explores this point.
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