Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!mintaka!bloom-beacon!deccrl!news.crl.dec.com!nntpd.lkg.dec.com!koning.enet.dec.com From: koning@koning.enet.dec.com (Paul Koning) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans Subject: Re: FDDI as a network backbone Message-ID: <23114@shlump.lkg.dec.com> Date: 3 Jun 91 15:25:01 GMT References: Sender: newsdaemon@shlump.lkg.dec.com Reply-To: koning@koning.enet.dec.com Distribution: comp Organization: Digital Equipment Co., distributed systems architecture Lines: 40 |> |>I've recently heard it alleged that using FDDI technology as a network |>backbone (as a way of aggregating multiple ethernets) would be a |>disaster. Further, I was told that FDDI is a very fragile technology, |>not suitable for production networks, not really suitable for much |>at all outside the lab -- and probably never would be. |> |>Does anybody with actual experience with running a large, production |>network that includes FDDI as an important part of the transport have |>a concurring or dissenting opinion about this? I've got some |>very important decisions facing me, and I don't want to do the |>wrong thing. |> |>-M |> FDDI is certainly newer than Ethernet, so the number of people who understand it in detail is quite a lot smaller. It is also more complex than Ethernet. This certainly means that an FDDI network, put together by those who do NOT understand it, is more likely to give you trouble than the corresponding Ethernet. On the other hand, if you take the time to learn about FDDI, you should certainly be able to build a production network that works well. As an example, the site I work has two buildings, with probably well over a thousand nodes. A few miles away is another cluster of buildings with another thousand or so nodes. We've been using FDDI as the production backbone for these two sites for about 6 months now, with no problems. This includes a single-mode link between the two sites. (They are only a few miles apart, but we "folded" the link a couple of times to exercise the single mode technology at its 40 km distance limit.) I'd suggest you approach the subject with care and make sure you learn about what you're doing. But don't pay too much attention to the "chicken little" types out there. paul