A year ago, choosing the best 100-Mbps network interface card (NIC) would have been a challenge, since only a few existed and none stood apart from the crowd. Today, the choices are varied and challenging; product designs seem to get better each month with every new rollout. Workstations and the applications that we run on them are also starting to need this kind of bandwidth.
We think FDDI, ATM and Fast Ethernet will be the dominant 100 Mbps or faster technologies over the next few years. Of those, our combined technology and product pick is the Digital Equipment PCI FDDI card, the DEC FDDIcontroller/PCI. The DEFPA is very fast; it can deliver its 100 Mbps without stressing your server. In our recent tests at Network Computing's University of Wisconsin lab site, we measured the card as having 73.8-Mbps transfer rates at only 10 percent server utilization.
The DEFPA also configures itself easily; you just install the card and load the driver. What more could you want from a NIC? The DEFPA is a good example of what Digital has been able to do with PCI. Digital's PCI interface chip is presently the best in the business.
FORE Systems deserves credit for ForeRunner 200, its family of 155-Mbps ATM cards. Support for EISA, NuBus, S-bus and more makes FORE's the most complete line of ATM cards in the industry. Combined with Fore's switch, Fore has the best story to tell for local ATM. The technology is not cheap, but it works. If you want a taste of ATM now, Fore is the place to start.
Cogent's EM400 PCI Quartet also gets recognition for a card that may offer the most bandwidth on a single PCI card. Its four-port, full-duplex, 100-Mbps Ethernet card has theoretical throughput potential of 800 Mbps.
DEC FDDIcontroller/PCI, $695-$1,695, Digital Equipment Corp., Network Product Business, 550 King St., Littleton, MA 01460. (800) DIGITAL; fax (508) 486-6311.
Runners-Up
ForeRunner 200 series
ATM adapter cards,
FORE Systems, 174 Thorn Hill Rd.,
Warrendale, PA 15086-7535.
(412) 772-6600; fax (412) 772-6500.
EM400 PCI Quartet,
Cogent Data Technologies,
15735 SE 30th Pl.,
Suite 310, Bellevue, WA 98007.
(206) 603-0333; fax (206) 603-9223.