Microvaxen bits etc.

On Wed, 28 Oct 1998, Tony Duell wrote: Unless you're talking about two nodes (computers) side by side I'd have to disagree. Trying to run coax throughout your house is a right pain in the ass, is conducive to bad cabling (cables get stepped on, pulled, etc) and and doesn't allow a structured cabling design. Plus if there's a break in the cable your hwole network can go down. 10baseT on the other hand allows you to isolate failures to one node, the cables are as easy to crimp once you get the hang of it (and actually become EASIER once you get good at it) and you don't have to worry about running a black coax cable around corners, over door frames, etc. And 4-port hubs can be had for less than $50 these days. A worthwhile investment for having a more stable, cleaner network. Plus you can always take advantage of 10 times the bandwidth later on (with 100baseT, providing you used Category 5 cabling). With Coax you are stuck at 10Mbps. And 100baseT network cards can be had for under $40 if you order by mail. Again, coax is good for multiple computers on a rack for instance, side by side. But the drawback is still low bandwidth. Of course, this assumes your machine can use 100baseT. Old machines like your PERQs and PDP11's would be quite happy with 10baseT. Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ever onward. Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0 See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details! [Last web site update: 09/21/98]