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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!uunet!in1.uu.net!van-bc!news.mindlink.net!nntp.portal.ca!cynic.portal.ca!not-for-mail From: cjs@cynic.portal.ca (Curt Sampson) Newsgroups: comp.unix.admin,comp.protocols.ppp,comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc Subject: Re: Best Unix for SLIP/PPP Server- Best Reliability/Cost? Date: 16 Nov 1996 12:52:20 -0800 Organization: Internet Portal Services, Inc. Lines: 33 Message-ID: <56l9i4$e7k@cynic.portal.ca> References: <56cfhc$h8b@access5.digex.net> <56d1m9$9ba@server05.icaen.uiowa.edu> <56dl8p$rje@panix2.panix.com> <56igd8$if@anorak.coverform.lan> NNTP-Posting-Host: cynic.portal.ca Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.admin:50532 comp.protocols.ppp:15922 comp.unix.questions:91421 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:31145 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:4875 In article <56igd8$if@anorak.coverform.lan>, Brian Somers <brian%anorak.coverform.lan@awfulhak.demon.co.uk> wrote: >: The real question is how many serial ports he can put in a PC before >: the thing has such a tremendous interrupt load that it can't get anything >: else done. >... >Even if you have one IRQ for 16 ports, you're only really looking at 80 >direct serial connections per pc. Putting hundreds of serial ports on a PC is not a problem. There are various manufacturers out there making single-board products that will handle well over a hundred serial ports, and you can easily put several of these boards in a system. However, a thousand on a single PC is likely pushing it a bit. Interrupts are not a problem when you have this many serial ports, since there are none: you poll. I've personally seen a 486/66 handle about 70 serial ports at 14.4 with no problem, and a Pentium handle 150 at 28.8 with no problem. These were running SCO Unix with Digiboards and a custom bulletin-board application. But still, before you go ahead with something like this, you should keep in mind the fact that this applicaton was eventually moved to terminal servers too. cjs -- Curt Sampson cjs@portal.ca Info at http://www.portal.ca/ Internet Portal Services, Inc. Vancouver, BC (604) 257-9400 De gustibus, aut bene aut nihil.