Path: utzoo!bnr-vpa!bnr-fos!bigsur!bnrgate!kratz From: kratz@bnrgate.UUCP (Geoff Kratz) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans Subject: Re: Why Ethernet-over-twisted-pair, anyway? Keywords: Ethernet, twisted pair, cost-benefit Message-ID: <218@bnrgate.UUCP> Date: 28 Nov 89 13:14:33 GMT References: <4645@blake.acs.washington.edu> Reply-To: kratz@bnr.ca (Geoff Kratz) Organization: BNR Ottawa, Canada Lines: 41 In article <4645@blake.acs.washington.edu> djo7613@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dick O'Connor) writes: >OK, Ethernet-over-twisted-pair fans, why is this innovation something to >get excited over? From theoretical or practical standpoints, why is >this new standard a boon to PC networking? [ stuff deleted ] >I guess what I'm after is the answer to: Is twisted pair Ethernet a >special-purpose solution for large LANs (where wiring costs might predom- >inate) or small spurs off a large LAN? Where's the benefit for a small >standalone workgroup? To be honest, UTP isn't great for small groups from a cost point of view, since the cost of the hub makes it more expensive than a thin-net solution. Where UTP shines, though, is in large sites or where you are moving machines around (both within buildings and between buildings) *a lot*. UTP gives you a flexibility in large buildings that, quite frankly, cannot be achieved using thick or thin. We know, because we've tried it. We are running a 7 building metro network spread out over the entire city (hooked into a 6 city internet), and we move people around a fair bit. Since we have 4-wire going to every location in every building, all we do is punch a couple of jumpers on a BIXX panel, and voila! Connectivity. And we can do it for about $500/seat now, and it is decreasing as we get more machines (fills up the ports on the hubs). Network management is *cheap* as well. The hubs, bridges and MAUs that we are using are very reliable, and we only have to fix the odd bad punch. Beyond that, we can alter the network topology (ie: turn a workgroup into a subnet) by simply replacing a bridge with a router (with the attendant IP address changes. That's the tough part!). The benefits for a small group would be in scalability if you expect to grow any in the future. You may have a half-dozen machines now, but if you expect any kind of large growth rate (say ending up with 75 to 100 machines in a year), the you might want to look at UTP. Smaller groups that expect to stay small probably can't find many benefits in UTP now, but may if the price of hubs comes down. -- Geoff Kratz Bell-Northern Research, Ltd. Ph: (613) 763-5784 Internet Systems P.O. Box 3511, Station C FAX:(613) 763-3283 Ottawa Ontario Canada K1Y 4H7 BITNET: kratz@bnr.ca I can put my foot in my OWN mouth, thank you!