[rescue] Gigabit Ethernet SBus & Gigabit Ethernet Sun 420R/220R

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Steve Sandau <ssandau at gwi.net>
>Date: 2008/04/06 Sun AM 08:34:01 CDT
>To: The Rescue List <rescue at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [rescue] Gigabit Ethernet SBus & Gigabit Ethernet Sun 420R/220R

<snip>

>And if SBUS maxes out at 200 megabytes, that is 1.6 gigabits, and a GigE 
>card should certainly be able to move data across the SBUS as fast as 
>across the network.

IIRC the docs had some very high CPU requirements to support "high speed" network interfaces - I seem to recall something like one CPU per 100 Mb/sec interface on U1/U2-era machines... Made me wonder where people were deploying those QFE cards...

>As I mentioned before, I have a fiber GigE SBUS card for COS if anyone 
>is interested.

I dont' want them, but I am curious what it would take to make use of them - obviouosly cards & fiber cables, but it a switch needed? some other technology? and how are the cards configured - is it like an Ethernet connection to the software, it just travels over different media?

I've (obviously) never tinkered with fiber before, but I'm thinking I might want to get a handle on the technology...

Lionel