So, for maximum performance the 3com nic would be best with my p166? If it buys me some speed i willing to spend the extra 50 euro.
Thanx Victor On Friday 01 February 2002 23:54, Cameron Kerr wrote: > On Fri, 1 Feb 2002, Victor Julien wrote: > >Hi, > > > >I want to build a debian based router/gateway/fileserver/mailserver for a > >home network with 12 clients. It will be quite low budget as the server is > > a Pentium 166Mhz. I want the network to be 100mbit fullduplex, so I want > > to buy a Nic for the server. Which one is best for maximum performance > > and stability? Intel, 3com, SMC or just a cheap Realtek? I think the nic > > should be using the cpu as little as possible... > > Are you going to sending lots of little messages, or are you going to > be doing a lot of bulk transfer. > > For lots of little messages, a PIO based card (such as a 3Com 905) will > serve you well. > > For bulk transfer, you really want to be dealing with DMA, so an Intel > EtherExpress Pro100 (or anything based on the Tulip chipset) will do you > well here. > > Setting up DMA transfers takes significant CPU time, which is why I ask, > as doing a PIO transfer in CPU for a short message can take less time than > setting up the DMA just for a short message. > > But either way, either of these cards should see you well, you might not > get to tax either card a great deal with you 166MHz system, so a cheap > rtl8139c based card (using the 8139too kernel module) might do you well > anyway, and save you an extra $60 (NZD), ~$25 dollars US. You can use this > saved money to bump up your RAM. > > Cameron Kerr
