From owner-freebsd-isp Mon Mar 24 12:07:24 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) id MAA02108 for isp-outgoing; Mon, 24 Mar 1997 12:07:24 -0800 (PST) Received: from smyrno.sol.net (smyrno.sol.net [206.55.64.117]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id MAA01902; Mon, 24 Mar 1997 12:04:04 -0800 (PST) Received: from solaria.sol.net (solaria.sol.net [206.55.65.75]) by smyrno.sol.net (8.8.5/8.8.3) with SMTP id OAA25364; Mon, 24 Mar 1997 14:03:55 -0600 (CST) Received: from localhost by solaria.sol.net (8.5/8.5) id OAA18596; Mon, 24 Mar 1997 14:03:52 -0600 From: Joe Greco Message-Id: <199703242003.OAA18596@solaria.sol.net> Subject: Re: reliable modems? To: spork@super-g.com (spork) Date: Mon, 24 Mar 97 14:03:51 CST Cc: richard@pegasus.com, freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.org, freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.org In-Reply-To: from "spork" at Jan 13, 97 03:28:24 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4dev PL65] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text Sender: owner-isp@FreeBSD.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > --> you said: > > > I'd recommend against rack-mount modems. I've used them in the past > > and always wished I hadn't once they get older. Once they get outdated > > single modems can be spread around and used in other places -- rack-mounts > > become large expensive boat-anchors. :-( > > > > Rows of single modems may not look as cool, but they usually make more > > sense. > > I can't agree with this... Just figuring out a way to *power* 200 > modems in a standalone config is a nightmare. I've blown circuit > breakers while plugging in new ones. The cube power supplies are very > unreliable, and very innefficient. Nowt to mention that you have no way > of having a modem busy itself out if it stops working. UUNet, PSI, etal. > are all going for the Ascend Max, which when purchased used, is a pretty > good deal. Not to mention they perform well. My sportster (which has > never given me any problems) is dialed into one now, happily talking with > a Rockwell chipset. > > Why do I say all this? I'm in charge of 200 stand alone modems. > Nightmare, nightmare, nightmare. I won't even start on the Xylogics > RA4000.... I'm coming in a bit late on this :-) I'm sitting about 30 meters from a room where there are TWELVE HUNDRED Courier modems. A local ISP used a bit of creativity and developed a nifty way to set up arrays of 120 Courier modems, complete with phone, power, and network wiring for the four Portmasters on each array. It's a bit scary to see 120 modems all powered by a single step-down transformer (10 identical racks). The modems kick off a bit of heat, too. On the other hand, it's very easy to debug, and is a relatively inexpensive per-port solution to the problem. It's quite impressive to see a telco demarc for 1200 analog lines. They no longer do this: they are running out of room and are exploring other alternatives. They figure that they can either sell the modems to their users (X2-ready!) or sell complete racks to other startup ISP's. ... Joe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joe Greco - Systems Administrator jgreco@ns.sol.net Solaria Public Access UNIX - Milwaukee, WI 414/342-4847