Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 14:47:47 +1000 (EST) From: "Dean Hamstead" <dean@bong.com.au> To: olivier@gautherot.net Cc: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Subject: Re: building an old-hardware server Message-ID: <16653.137.154.16.31.1155617267.squirrel@webmail.bong.com.au> In-Reply-To: <200608142217.16569.ogautherot@vtr.net> References: <200607201318.k6KDIOKH092991@lurza.secnetix.de> <049d01c6c005$dfee6570$857ba8c0@Rage> <200608142217.16569.ogautherot@vtr.net>
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>> I have considered the NIC to be important here. I've read through >> hundreds >> of articles, and the 3C905B seems to be quite fast and low on CPU load. >> Other alternatives were Kingston KNE110TX (seems to have some bugs >> according to the dc man page), D-Link DFE-530TX (rhine based, also buggy >> according to man page AND D-Link="let it be" according to users), some >> Davicom DM9102AF based cards (seem ok, but more on the low quality end) >> and >> the "loved" RTL8139C/D ones (buggy, right?). I don't expect sustained >> heavy >> traffic, but peaks... realteks nics are horrible, if you have a 3c905b floating around *use it* you should be able to pick them up for about $2 if someone rips you off, also intel etherexpress 100/B's are good as well, they will also be in a local pile of old parts for $2. > I've been using the RTL8139B, Rhine-II and Rhine-III (on a C3-based Epia > board) without any problem for quite some time now. I can recommend them. > The > fact that the drivers are buggy does not necessarily mean that you will > face > big issues: in most cases, the bugs just apply to some particular > features. Any network card drive that comes compiled with a release kernel can safely be considered very usable. also, dont be worried if a network card chip has bugs, they often do, and to confuse things, chips with lots of clones tend to have different bugs depending on who made the chip (the digital 'tulip' ones, KNE110TX previously mentioned is one, had many manufacturers and varried bugs and quirks) >> Any feedback is welcome, on the list or on my email, as I am in a hurry >> with putting the machine to work and cannot take my time and test all >> possible configurations... 1 gig hard disks are a waste of time, space and money. Dean
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