Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 10:05:26 -0700 (PDT) From: "Rodney W. Grimes" <rgrimes@gndrsh.aac.dev.com> To: dennis@et.htp.com (dennis) Cc: md@dcs.qmw.ac.uk, freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Wanted: 100bT EISA ethernet recommendation Message-ID: <199507111705.KAA16203@gndrsh.aac.dev.com> In-Reply-To: <199507111401.KAA06674@mail.htp.com> from "dennis" at Jul 11, 95 10:01:33 am
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> > >Hi, > > > >I'm trying to get a FreeBSD box - Compaq Proliant + RAID disk array - > >introduced here as the main fileserver for our undergrads. The idea > >is to use it to feed some existing SS-20s on a high speed ethernet > >network. > > > >Unfortunately the Proliant I have is an EISA machine and I haven't > >noticed anyone on the FreeBSD lists recommending EISA 100base T cards > >(plenty of PCI though :-(). > > > >Is anyone using such an EISA 100base T ethernet card you'd like to > >recommend? > > > The question is, who would build one? EISA cards are too expensive to build > and EISA is too slow for a 100mbs medium. If someone is making them then > I'll bet they have a much bigger marketing dept than engineering. You have forgotten about the 1 millon plus EISA based Novell file servers out there as an installation base. There are at least 4 100MB/sec EISA products on the market now, and I suspect a few more will be coming. EISA is not too slow for 100mbs medium, we've been running 100mbs SCSI down it for 5 years and haven't complained, so I don't see how ethernet would change that one little bit. Granted it sucks up almost 1/2 of the bus bandwidth, but hey, all's you need in a file server is 100 mbs of disk channel and 100mbs of network pipe, fits on one EISA bus very nicely. EISA may be dead for new motherboard sales (and it is not totally dead, I just quoted another EISA/PCI system and EISA was a _requirement_), but it is very well alive and active in the card market due to the back room servers that will continue to be run for quite some time. Now when someone starts shipping 8 PCI slot motherboards we can kill some of these legacy back room servers and replace them with newer hardware, but until then EISA is going to dominate that market segment. -- Rod Grimes rgrimes@gndrsh.aac.dev.com Accurate Automation Company Reliable computers for FreeBSD
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