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Date: Tue, 1 Jul 1997 11:26:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tom Samplonius <tom@sdf.com>
To: Gennadi Makhmetov <gena@ph-elec.phys.msu.su>
cc: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: lnc device
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On Tue, 1 Jul 1997, Gennadi Makhmetov wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I am going to setup a dedicated router (running FreeBSD)
> on ISA machine. I expect I would get the best performance
> using bus mastering network cards. As I have found out, FreeBSD
> supports some such cards using the lnc driver. 
> But in FAQ this driver is marked "known to have problems". In 
> LINT there is no such indication. I know that sometimes 
> documentation is updated less regularly than software. I would like
> to know whether this driver indeed has problems, and (if yes) of 
> what kind?
> 
> If I should use another type of cards, which would you recommend?
> 
> Thank you in advance.
> ----------------------------------
> E-Mail: "Gennadi Makhmetov" <gena@ph-elec.phys.msu.su>
> Date: 01-Jul-97
> Time: 21:10:43

  Shared memory cards work the best on ISA bus systems.

  The SMC Ultra/16 is good choice (uses SMC8216 chip).  It uses 16KB of
shared memory. I'm using two of these in my home systems now, and a few at
work.  They may be hard to get a hold of now.  This card uses the ed
driver, which is also of very good quality.

  The SMC EtherEZ is similar to the Ultra/16, but is still readily
available (uses SMC8416 chip).  It only uses 8K of shared memory though.

  You also might want to look at cards supported by the le and ie drivers
(see "man ie" and "man le").  I believe the le driver is quite good.

Tom