[FADCA] Use of ESATCOM for TCP/IP

[wchast at utilpart.com]

David Calder wrote:
> 	Does everyone thing a PC based node it the way to go? I always
> thought
> It left to much to fail.
> 	Now I'm a Fadca member, run an FTP site for them and am on this
> side but I was never impressed with a node you had to have a computer
> to run on.
> 
> 	The more you add parts, the more there is to break.
> 

Dave,
You can now build a PC based switch with no moving parts. But that said
we have had switch sites here in Tampa outlive the TNC's. Also there is
a limit to what a TNC can do as a switch/node and we have seen what happens
when you ask a TNC based network device to do more than it can handle.

The trick is to use hardware that is well tested, and take a bit more
time to make sure that it works well, then you will find that a computer
based switch will be just as reliable as the TNC based one, and at the
same time can provide more services for the user.

Indeed I always found the weak side of the TNC based node/switch was
really the wired network that is used to link the network devices at
the switch site. It does not matter if it is a diode matrix, a smart
matrix, or a CoaxLAN (my little addition to the mess) they were all
the weak points in the switch site. and tended to be the point of failure
almost every time.

Here in Tampa we always carried spare matrix/CoaxLAN devices when
visiting a damaged switch because the problem usually was in that area.

The other simplification with the computer based switch/node is you
do not have to fool around with a set of routing tables or node rules
for every TNC on site. ( A switch site will have as many TNC's as ports
and you will have to have tables for each one of them) whereas the
computer based switch/node only needs one set of tables, and it is
much easier to trouble shoot routing issues in one table as it is
to trouble shoot 4, 5, or more tables for a TNC based network site.

Now that mobo companies like Via:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/VInternet/mini_itx.jsp

Build boards that do not need a fan, and you can use compactflash cards
for a hard disk you now have a no moving part solution that is rugged and
in fact can be powered off of 12vDC mains. You add sound cards to it and
the TNC's start going out the door.

In fact we could build turnkey switches with these devices, all that
would be needed would be the routing and configuration tables for that
particular site.

These things are not that expensive in cost and the power they bring to
the table (can handle 802.11 type links) makes them very attractive,
at least in my view.



Chuck Hast
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To paraphrase my flight instructor;
"the only dumb question is the one you DID NOT ask resulting in my going
out and having to identify your bits and pieces in the midst of torn
and twisted metal."


*****************************************************************
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is
addressed. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify
the sender immediately and destroy any hard copies you may have printed and
remove all copies of the e-mail from your hard drive. Opinions, conclusions
and other information in this message that do not relate to the official
business of Utility Partners, Inc shall be understood as neither given nor
endorsed by it.

Visit us on the web at http://www.utilpart.com 
*****************************************************************