Ethernet card suggestions

John Klos

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Apr 11, 2003, 1:03:13 PM4/11/03

to tech...@netbsd.org

Hi,

Could someone recommend some good ethernet cards for me? I need a few 4
port 10/100 ethernet cards which will work fine in an interrupt starved
(ie, x86) system, and a low cost, yet hopefully low overhead, gigabit
ethernet card or two.

For instance, does someone know which of a Netgear (GA302T) or Intel (Pro
1000/MT) is faster / generates less overhead?

If you have suggestions which include both 32 bit and 64 bit PCI options,
that would be helpful, too.

Thanks,
John Klos
Sixgirls Computing Labs

Jason Thorpe

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Apr 11, 2003, 2:26:14 PM4/11/03

to John Klos, tech...@netbsd.org

On Friday, April 11, 2003, at 10:02 AM, John Klos wrote:

> For instance, does someone know which of a Netgear (GA302T) or Intel
> (Pro
> 1000/MT) is faster / generates less overhead?

I have had terrific luck with the Intel Gig-E boards, and you can get
them in the $50-$60 price range.

-- Jason R. Thorpe <tho...@wasabisystems.com>

Jonathan Stone

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Apr 11, 2003, 2:52:43 PM4/11/03

to John Klos, Jason Thorpe, tech...@netbsd.org, jona...@pescadero.dsg.stanford.edu

I too have had very good luck with the Intel cards. I've had equally
good luck with Broadcom-derived cards. Which one I'd use depends on
several factors (jumbo frames required? checksum assist needed? vlan
support *and* checksum assist? 3.3v 64-bit slot available
[required for pro/1000MT, iirc]).

Personally, I'd probably buy an Netgear GA-302T over a new ``brand
name'' 10/100 card, the Pro/1000MT if I had a free 3.3v slot and
didn't have a current requirement for jumbo frames; and a 3c996B-T or
bvm5703 solution otherwise.

Unless Jason added jumbo frames to if_wm, and I missed it?

Jason Thorpe

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Apr 11, 2003, 3:06:33 PM4/11/03

to Jonathan Stone, John Klos, tech...@netbsd.org, jona...@pescadero.dsg.stanford.edu

On Friday, April 11, 2003, at 11:47 AM, Jonathan Stone wrote:

> Unless Jason added jumbo frames to if_wm, and I missed it?

No, not yet -- it's still on my list.

Thor Lancelot Simon

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Apr 11, 2003, 5:13:02 PM4/11/03

to tech...@netbsd.org

On Fri, Apr 11, 2003 at 11:28:31AM -0700, Jason Thorpe wrote:
>
> I have had terrific luck with the Intel Gig-E boards, and you can get
> them in the $50-$60 price range.

If four ports in one slot are required, Intel now makes a quad
Gig-E card which can be had in the $400 price range. Works just
fine as a quad-100 card, too.

Thor

Manuel Bouyer

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Apr 12, 2003, 2:40:59 PM4/12/03

to John Klos, tech...@netbsd.org

On Fri, Apr 11, 2003 at 01:02:57PM -0400, John Klos wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Could someone recommend some good ethernet cards for me? I need a few 4
> port 10/100 ethernet cards which will work fine in an interrupt starved
> (ie, x86) system, and a low cost, yet hopefully low overhead, gigabit
> ethernet card or two.
>
> For instance, does someone know which of a Netgear (GA302T) or Intel (Pro
> 1000/MT) is faster / generates less overhead?

As 4-port adapters, avoid at all cost the dlink 580. I couldn't get
it working properly at 100Mbs, the PCI-PCI bridge on this board just
can't get datas out of the adapter quick enouth (or the buffer on the
chip is too small - it's only 2k, so it can't get more than one
full packet). They are usable at 10Mbs though.
As others have said, the Intel Gig-e adapters are good. I'm using the
mono and dual port versions.

--
Manuel Bouyer <bou...@antioche.eu.org>
NetBSD: 24 ans d'experience feront toujours la difference
--