Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!AHWAHNEE.STANFORD.EDU!dcrocker
From: dcrocker@AHWAHNEE.STANFORD.EDU (Dave Crocker)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: Super Cheap IP router (< $1000)
Message-ID: <8904130659.AA12294@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 12 Apr 89 04:29:09 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 14

No doubt, I missed all of the important messages, earlier.  If so, please
forgive, but..

The ONLY function that you need in the i/o cards of a cheap (and even many
expensive) routers is to buffer data adequately, to avoid dropping
back-to-back packets (for a fast LAN) and to avoid excessive (e.g.,
per-character) interrupt rates.  In the PC world, especially, intelligent
LAN cards have a habit of being slower than the PC, adding $500 to the
cost, per network interface, and making routing quite difficult, since
you end up with IP inside multiple interfaces.  Putting the
link-level code into the interface usually makes sense, especially with
the number that now are in silicon; is that being called "intelligent"?

Dave