Fwd: IBM is 100! But where is Token ring? where is the PS/2?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charlie Hurtubise <Charlie.Hurtubise@xxx>
Date: 17 June 2011 10:07
Subject: RE: IBM is 100! But where is Token ring? where is the PS/2?
To: tk@tonyking.tk
Cc: Desmondo <dezbeaxxxxs@xxxa>, Christian Kindarji <ck@xxx>

Well I worked with a token ring too at Syscor and at Richter. Rememebr the course we took at Syscor on that, when we had some crap near the end with a coax between big black controllers looping through the Queen Mary office. In the course the guy passed a token (an ashtray) from each person on the course and said "ok now you can transmit", then passed the ashtray to the next person (PC) and said "ok you can transmit".

In theory token-ring beat Ethernet which is based on a free for all transmit that restarted on collision detection. So the more traffic, the more collisions, and the less real data got through. But Ethernet was not effected by a cable cut, only one device was. But cut a token ring circle (step on one like happened at Richter all the time, or a loose coax connector with stupid silver strands sticking out), and the rest on the ring stopped working.

Anyway 3Com, Baystack, Cisco all solved the collision issues in HUBS with first bridges (I used those at Tecsys) to stop extra traffic between hubs, then switches that did it port by port and remembered where the recipient was plugged in, then router switches etc up to today. Ethernet won! Now with 10 Gbps speeds on Cat6 cables or fiber cables, Ethernet is still winning. The new cheaper iSCSI disk arrays use four Ethernet 1 Gbps cables to transmit disk data. We use fiber technology at Tecsys as it was out first at 2 Gbps then 4 Gbps, and now 8 Gbps. It is not Ethernet, but the larger fiber packet protocol is used. I heard at one point that the fiber protocol was going to replace IP Ethernet, as it's packets are too small. But the speeds are tremendous now and the costs have come way down.

That first 3Com bridge we bought at Tecsys in 1994 cost $5,000 or some such thing to connect two 3Com hubs at 10 Mbps.

Charles

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From: tonyxxx [mailto:xxxx] On Behalf Of Tony King (aqk)
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 10:29 PM
To: Charlie Hurtubise
Cc: Desmondo; Christian Kindarji
Subject: IBM is 100! But where is Token ring? where is the PS/2?

Remember those IBM sales pitches, Charlie?

  http://www.zdnet.com/tb/1-98570-1910248?tag=talkback-river;1_98570_1910248   

• RE: IBM at 100: 3 or 4 INFECTION points in history

  @bhaskins@... 
  Oh phooey on your OS/2 Red Herring.
  I used OS/2 and alas it needed 4 or 5 times as much memory as Windows.
  And this was back when a Megabyte or RAM was... $1000? I think so...
  I asked my boss about getting another 4Meg of RAM for my OS/2 for it to run as fast as windows.. $4000?? He threw me out of his office.
  So I stayed with Win 3.0 / 3.1 - But now?
  Ahhh.. Linux... (sigh) 
  Say why don't you try flogging the PS2? (LOL- ZD's favourite PC)
  No? Then how about IBM's much vaunted Token Ring (LOL) - It's wayyyy faster than that old-fashioned Ethernet (said our IBM rep to the boss - he wouldn't dare talk to us!)
  And years later, I HAD TO MANAGE a *$#* Token-ring network acquired through an outsourcing contract! Grrrr.. What ****! 
  
  - Percy aka AQK (now getting really P....-Off)
  

  PercySludge   ... channeled by Tony Q King
  

  16th Jun

  • Reply to

• Thanks for reminding me

  @PercySludge (aqk)
  Your mention of "broken" ring nearly made me lose my dinner!
  

  rahbm
  

  21st Jun