Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!ptavv.llnl.gov!oberman From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans Subject: Re: Ethernet "heartbeat" Message-ID: <1991May19.132455.1@ptavv.llnl.gov> Date: 19 May 91 20:24:55 GMT References: <12164@uwm.edu> <1991May16.004523.21301@berlioz.nsc.com> <104479@sgi.sgi.com> <1991May16.134857.1@ptavv.llnl.gov> Sender: usenet@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV Lines: 23 Nntp-Posting-Host: ptavv.llnl.gov In article , hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) writes: >>SQE is unlikely to be very helpful in finding loose connectors, but I do have >>some workstations that gernerate LOTS of errors if they don't se it. If they >>run NFS the error reporting can essentially kill the system. > > I'm not sure why you say this. Some older cisco routers use Interlan > multibus Ethernet controllers. With those controllers, cisco checks > heartbeat, and declares the interface down if it's missing. This I didn't mean to imply that SQE could not detect a disconnection, just that it was usually obvious from the lack of received packets. I just think that there are better reasons to use SQE (like what it was designed for). While I've certainly had my share of failures because the cables fall off of MAUs and workstations, these are easy to find. I'm more concerned with detecting the flakey unit than the totally dead one. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: oberman@icdc.llnl.gov (415) 422-6955 Disclaimer: Don't take this too seriously. I just like to improve my typing and probably don't really know anything useful about anything. Especially anything gnu.