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Conference netcad::hub_mgnt

Title:	DEChub/HUBwatch/PROBEwatch CONFERENCE
Notice:	Firmware -2, Doc -3, Power -4, HW kits -5, firm load -6&7
Moderator:	NETCAD::COLELLADT

Created:	Wed Nov 13 1991
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	4455
Total number of notes:	16761

1312.0. "NPI EIFO 12/1 10/100 Bridge" by DPDMAI::DAVIES (Mark, SCA Area Network Consultant) Tue Aug 16 1994 13:55

    My customer is about to pilot a GIGAswitch and this sale should be no
    problem.  WHere we are running into competition is with FDDI/Ethernet
    bridging.  We are going with the DB 900MX and the competition is the
    following:
    
    	EIFO switch from NPI
    
    They tell me that EIFO means Ethernet In FDDI Out.  Anybody ever gone
    up against one of these?
    
    This is a 12 Ethernet port & 1 FDDI port bridge.  They tell me the price
    is ~$6000 per unit.
    
    I am looking for competitive info on this unit.  We are going to need
    performance limitations, standards compliance limitations, etc to win
    the business from these guys.
    
    Any assistance here is appreciated.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Mark

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1312.1		NPSS::MDLYONS	Michael D. Lyons - Young enough and dumb enough	`Tue Aug 16 1994 15:50`	2
	...check out the comp.dcom.lans.fddi newsgroup for a recent firestorm there regarding support for IP fragmentation (or lack of it.)
1312.2	How do you access newsgroups?	DPDMAI::DAVIES	Mark, SCA Area Network Consultant	`Tue Aug 16 1994 17:20`	8
	I am not familiar with accessing the "comp.dcom.lans.fddi newsgroups". How would one do that? Thanks, Mark
1312.3	Mike is referring to the usenet newsgroup access	NACAD2::BATTERSBY		`Tue Aug 16 1994 18:45`	9
	Mark I think Mike is referring to the usenet access to the newsgroup using one of the tools like "VNEWS". In the newsgroup titled comp.dcom.lans.fddi, there are at least 25-30 or so articles discussing the EIFO switch. The title of the articles is... "EIFO Ethernet/FDDI Switch". I haven't read them all myself, but there might be some info that Mike alludes to to pull out of there to use. Bob
1312.4		KAOFS::S_HYNDMAN	Acronym Decoder Ring Architect	`Tue Aug 16 1994 20:14`	7
	Might want to also check if Scott Bradner's lab has tested it inorder to obtain performance data. Scott
1312.5	Thanks.	DPDMAI::DAVIES	Mark, SCA Area Network Consultant	`Tue Aug 16 1994 20:20`	1

1312.6	EIFO does not IP fragment	NACAD::SLAWRENCE		`Wed Aug 17 1994 20:10`	11
	I just checked out that thread in the newsgroup - it gets off the track and kind of heated fairly quickly, but the important point is that the EIFO switch does not fragment IP messages in FDDI frames down to Ethernet size. The DECbridge900 does this at full ethernet wire speed. This can have a very substantial impact on NFS - especially if you have some NFS that is FDDI-FDDI and others that must go through the bridge. The only way to use the EIFO in such a case is to artificially limit the MTU on the FDDI down to the ethernet maximum size; a big performance loss on the FDDI, and the system for the FDDI-FDDI uses.
1312.7		NPSS::MDLYONS	Michael D. Lyons - Young enough and dumb enough	`Fri Aug 19 1994 13:54`	16
	Re: previous replies ...sorry for not responding earlier - I don't follow this conference on a daily basis. I communicated with Mark via mail earlier this week and gave pointers to newsgroup software... ..My personal preference is the Motif version of XRN... ..fyi, some additional notes conferences which are related to newsgroups and newsgroup software: UPSAR::NEWS-BACKBONE UFP::XRN Thanks to Bob and Scott for the extra info... Scott's summary covers what I was referring to...
1312.8	What RFC for rebuilding fragmented messages?	DPDMAI::DAVIES	Mark, SCA Area Network Consultant	`Fri Aug 26 1994 12:14`	10
	re: .6 Can one assume that most Unix implementations (including Digital's) support the rebuilding of fragmented messages? Which RFC would this be covered under? Thanks, Mark
1312.9	RFC pointers	NACAD2::SLAWRENCE		`Fri Aug 26 1994 13:50`	14
	RFC 791 "Internet Protocol" requires that any IP destination support reassembly. RFC 1122 "Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Communication Layers" adds: 3.2.1.4 Fragmentation and Reassembly: RFC-791 Section 3.2 The Internet model requires that every host support reassembly. See Sections 3.3.2 and 3.3.3 for the requirements on fragmentation and reassembly.
1312.10	Thanks.	DPDMAI::DAVIES	Mark, SCA Area Network Consultant	`Fri Aug 26 1994 14:53`	4
	Thanks a LOT, Mark