Equinox multi port boards

[Gary Blumenstein]

In article <134 at tiamat.fsc.com> jim at tiamat.fsc.com (Jim O'Connor) writes:
>> using SCO HoneyDanBer and their supplied dialer program.  I gave up a long 
>> time ago trying to get a Telebit to work on other smart i/o boards.  I 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>My Telebits work with the Bell Tech (ah, excuse me, Intel) ACE board in this
>system, but I didn't get the throughput improvement that I though I would.
>The number of interrupts caused during a UUCP transfer did decrease
>dramatically, but the actual speed of the transfers only incresed slightly.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Keep in mind that your actual throughput is also affected by the condition of 
the line, the modem, and your software.  The board istself may not necessarily 
affect transfer speed as much as these other factors.  However, with 
conditions being equal, for the exeption of the line quality (which I have no 
way of measuring).  I have seen my highest throughput when using a Telebit on 
the Equinox.  Overall, the worst I'm getting is around 1,250 cps and the 
highest is over 1,500 cps.  I was never able to get 1,500 cps when using 
another smart i/o board, and I've tried several of these .  The figures are 
taken from xferstats (obviously with the HZ problem fixed) and with files 
>500K both sending and receiving.  

As far as interrupts go, there was a good posting earlier which explained
this better than I could but because the Equinox utilizes polls every x 
milliseconds when clock signals occurr, you are basically eliminating 
extra interrupt servicing and context switching that you get with interrupt 
driven i/o boards.  The ASIC processor is also smart enough to handle 
simultaneous 38.4K baud to and from all 24 channels unlike most other
smart boards which can barely handle more than 9,600 baud if that.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>Here's another VP/ix question:  will this board let me run VP/ix from a
>serial terminal like the Wyse60, which runs in PC mode during the VP/ix
>session?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Yes, the Equinox board supports VP/ix sessions nicley.  In addition, VP/ix
running under Interactive UNIX can be used over a modem.  I've tested
this.

Two other BIG pluses for the Equinox board that I forgot to mention in
my original posting (I found out by accident!) is that their drivers 
support line disciplines for both SCO Multiview and their office automation
application (I forget the name of this).  When I enabled the line
discipline, Multiview flys!  While I havn't measured it yet, there is a
HUGE perceived difference in speed when running Multiview on, say a Wyse
60 with this feature enabled.  It makes the application completly usable, and
its very kind to the cpu.  In fact, when Equinox releases their new drivers 
that have multiple sessions, I probably won't use them because Multiview 
works so well.

The other nice feature about the Equinox is that the drivers allow
Foxbase+ to run at 38,400 baud on your terminals without blowing up
the screen.  

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>Last question (for now anyway):  what physical attachment does the board use?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

They have everything under the sun.  What I have, and I suspect will be
the most common are two 4 foot PBX cables attatched to what they call 
"Modular Splitters".  This is a little black box containing 12 RJ-11 jacks.
Some of the other wiring alternatives you can get include male or female 
DB25 distribution panels, punch blocks, DB25 or RJ-11 fan out cables,
etc.  They also sell RJ-ll to DB25 adapters for modems and terminals and
the coolest short haul modems I've ever seen.  I didn't have to futz 
around with a breakout box at all.  Just plug and go.  My question is,
why couldn't these boards have been around years ago when we originally
configured our systems!
 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>I knew I'd have another question:  I heard some mention a 12-port version.
>Is this a product yet and how much is it, or when will it be a product and
>how much will it be?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's shipping now.  I had to get the 24 port board
because at the time the 12 wasn't available.  I'm 99.9% sure they have one 
now.  Also, they're about to release the drivers that do multiple sessions.

-- 
Gary Blumenstein, UNIX Network Administrator // CIBA-GEIGY Corporation, USA
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