Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 11:36:08 +0930 (CST) From: Michael Smith <msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au> To: danj@netcom.com (Dan Janowski) Cc: current@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Various drivers... Message-ID: <199609190206.LAA07511@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> In-Reply-To: <324065B6.41C67EA6@netcom.com> from "Dan Janowski" at Sep 18, 96 05:12:22 pm
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
(redirected to -hardware list, where this belongs. All of us with opinions on hardware hang out here 8) Dan Janowski stands accused of saying: > > -current and SCSI: > > Does the buslogic driver support (in addition to the BT-946) > the BT-948,958,956? If not, are there plans? Justin Gibbs (gibbs@freebsd.org) is the person to talk to about this. I wouldn't, at this point in time, recommend using a Buslogic controller. > Are there any opinions about which SCSI board works best > with -current for performance. The Adaptec 2940 range, hotly followed by cards using the NCR 53c8xx range of chips. Both of these support tagged queueing, which gives them a huge advantage over the Buslogic driver, which (AFAIK) currently does not. > What is/are the SCSI board(s) that get the most on-going > attention, and are therefore the best investments? The two above, again. > -current and 10BaseT/100BaseT: > > Is there any difference between the 10BaseT and the 100BaseT > boards and their support level or stability? Er, speed? Matt Thomas's 'de' driver is, when it works (most of the time) probably the best of the bunch (DC21x4x-based cards from people like SMC and Kingston). There's a 100bT driver for one of the Intel cards, but AFAIR it compares slightly unfavourably. > For those that are working or have worked on the drivers, > is there a perceivable difference between the > vendors and their respective implementations (a.k.a > madness)? Um, there are lots of vendors. Many of them are mad. Be more specific and people (like Rod 8) will be able to be more helpful. > -current and multi-port serial cards: > > Is there any difference in the drivers, functionality, or > performance of these things? I can name about five. Unless you're contemplating a _huge_ number of ports, an AST-style multiport card (from someone like PC-Com or Boca) will work well. Most of the cheap "intelligent" cards use the Cirrus Logic UARTs, which are less efficient than the 16550's on a Boca. For higher-end applications, I would look at the Stallion EasyConnection cards; they're supported by a driver maintained (unofficially) by an employee of Stallion. > I appreciate any answers that I get. I am trying to > plot a 'course' through the VAST array of hardware > available in an effort to come up the 'best' > configurations for FreeBSD. It is my opinion that No single such thing; any configuration has its strong and weak points. > work on drivers for new stuff, so I would like to > make up a reasonable summary of recommendations for > harware buyers. A reasonable idea however. > Dan Janowski Hopefully this has been vaguely useful; there's also a wealth of stuff to be learned from reading back-issues of the -hardware mailing list archive. -- ]] Mike Smith, Software Engineer msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au [[ ]] Genesis Software genesis@atrad.adelaide.edu.au [[ ]] High-speed data acquisition and (GSM mobile) 0411-222-496 [[ ]] realtime instrument control (ph/fax) +61-8-267-3039 [[ ]] Collector of old Unix hardware. "Where are your PEZ?" The Tick [[
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199609190206.LAA07511>