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From: rmilner@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Ruth Milner)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans
Subject: Re: how to connect thin wire segements to thick wire backbone
Message-ID: <1991May15.195831.16169@nmt.edu>
Date: 15 May 91 19:58:31 GMT
Article-I.D.: nmt.1991May15.195831.16169
References: <1991May13.170657.4786@zoo.toronto.edu> <3021@kirk.nmg.bu.oz.au>
Reply-To: rmilner@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Ruth Milner)
Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro NM
Lines: 33

In article <3021@kirk.nmg.bu.oz.au> bambi@kirk.nmg.bu.oz.au (David J. Hughes) writes:
>From article <1991May13.170657.4786@zoo.toronto.edu>, by henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer):
>> The only way to hook cables
>> together at other than their ends is with a repeater of some flavor.
>
>Correct yet not correct.  
>The set-up we use here is ...........
[ diagram deleted ]
>
>The Star configuration is maintained by a Multi-Port repeater 
                                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How does this differ from what Henry said?

The point is, you can't hook the cables together without a box somewhere in
between. Whether you have one box for each thinwire segment, or one for many,
is irrelevant. You still need something with some intelligence to join them.
Multi-port repeaters have that intelligence: they are proper repeaters, and
most of the ones available on the market also do fault isolation on the thin
segments, which is quite useful.

I think Cabletron might make a repeater with less than 8 ports, but in any
case, unless you are severely constrained by distance limits, you probably
want room to add new segments later.

Remember that the whole kit and caboodle will count as a single Ethernet and 
every segment will see all of every other segment's traffic - unless you do 
some judicious bridging/gatewaying between them instead of just repeaters.
If those thinwires have workstations etc. on them, you could load up your
network *very* quickly. Make sure you plan for this.
-- 
Ruth Milner
Systems Manager                     NRAO/VLA                    Socorro NM
Computing Division Head      rmilner@zia.aoc.nrao.edu