From owner-freebsd-hackers Thu Jun 28 20:16: 4 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from whizzo.transsys.com (whizzo.TransSys.COM [144.202.42.10]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 327BC37B405 for ; Thu, 28 Jun 2001 20:16:01 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from louie@whizzo.transsys.com) Received: from whizzo.transsys.com (#6@localhost.transsys.com [127.0.0.1]) by whizzo.transsys.com (8.11.3/8.11.3) with ESMTP id f5T3G0I95199 for ; Thu, 28 Jun 2001 23:16:00 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from louie@whizzo.transsys.com) Message-Id: <200106290316.f5T3G0I95199@whizzo.transsys.com> X-Mailer: exmh version 2.3.1 01/18/2001 with nmh-1.0.4 To: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG X-Image-URL: http://www.transsys.com/louie/images/louie-mail.jpg From: "Louis A. Mamakos" Subject: Re: Status of encryption hardware support in FreeBSD References: <121.f1f847.286cd1f4@aol.com> In-reply-to: Your message of "Thu, 28 Jun 2001 14:31:16 EDT." <121.f1f847.286cd1f4@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001 23:16:00 -0400 Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG > In a message dated 06/27/2001 11:06:12 PM Eastern Daylight Time, > soren@soekris.com writes: > > > That's not really the point here, I was talking about lowest end > > hardware compared to high end CPU. If we compare with high end hardware, > > then we're talking about factor >50 faster than software.... There are > > chips out that can do >1Gbit 3-DES, given a 64bit/66Mhz PCI bus. > > > > I'm just starting with a low end chip to complement my 133 Mhz 486 based > > net4501 board, with the goal of low cost and low power, not absolute > > performance. > > Its cheaper and more flexible to buy a faster motherboard, which is the point > to the rest of us who are deciding if we care about a hardware solution. Really? Have you even looked at the net4501 board which was mentioned? It's a single-board computer constructed for some specific communication applications, with no VGA or keyboard support, or spinning fans, and is pretty inexpensive and in a very small form factor. Why do I want to replace this with "a new motherboard?" Please consider that you probably can't imagine all the applications that these platforms might be used in, an the availability of fire-breathing Really Fast CPUs might not actually be applicable to some applications with very specific requirements. "A new motherboard" isn't going to be more flexible since it's likely to require a power supply larger than the whole low-power computer you propose to replace. I'd rather spend the $100 or $150 to add crypto performance for some applications and maintain the small form factor, low power consumption, and no moving parts. The "rest of us" covers quite a few people, with a variety of interesting applications. louie To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message