From owner-freebsd-isp Tue Oct 21 03:24:27 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) id DAA05538 for isp-outgoing; Tue, 21 Oct 1997 03:24:27 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-isp) Received: from axe.cablenet.net (axe.cablenet.net [194.154.36.65]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id DAA05532 for ; Tue, 21 Oct 1997 03:24:20 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from damian@axe.cablenet.net) Received: from axe (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by axe.cablenet.net (8.8.7/8.6.9) with SMTP id LAA20513; Tue, 21 Oct 1997 11:20:19 +0100 (BST) Message-ID: <344C81E2.6201DD56@cablenet.net> Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 11:20:18 +0100 From: Damian Hamill Organization: CableNet Ltd X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (X11; I; SunOS 4.1.4 sun4m) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "Felipe Rivera M." CC: freebsd-isp@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Recomendatios for a good way to set a modem poll to provide access? References: <344B85A5.63942B29@informador.com.mx> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-isp@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Felipe Rivera M. wrote: > > Hi there > > Not so much time ago in this list i red a good discussion on > livingston portmaster's VS ascend access servers (livingston got the > best comments) and now my question is: > > Do you recomend access servers from other companies? (cisco? are > there any others?) > how reliable is a FreeBSD box with a multiport card and modems and pppd? It's very reliable, it is freebsd after all. I've been happy with my term server setup and had no problems with it since moving away from linux. The problem with this setup is the modem rack and the multiport card and it becomes an issue of density. For small isps with less than 100 lines it is manageable but beyond that they take up too much space. I have a rack mount PC and the modem rack which take up 11u and provide capacity for 48 analogue only lines. My new PM3 takes up 2u of space and supports 60 analogue or ISDN calls. If someone were to come up with a PCI card that does the same job as the PM3 then it would be an absolute winner. The one advantage that a freebsd term server has over an access servers is the programming capability. regards damian -- * Damian Hamill M.D. damian@cablenet.net * CableNet & The Landscape Channel * http://www.cablenet.net/ http://www.landscapetv.com/