Re: How many modems ?
On Mon, 22 Sep 1997 10:49:22 -0400, Jason Costomiris wrote:
>On Mon, Sep 22, 1997 at 03:05:35AM -0500, Dave Cinege wrote:
>: >Do yourself a favor, if you want a terminal server, buy a terminal server.
>: >
>: >If you need a good number of modems, pick up a used Livingston PM2 or
>: >PM2e. If you need to support a large userbase, consider a PM3
>: >or an Ascend Max.
>:
>: Why? My linux RADIUS termserver works great. Runs solid state out of
ram,
>: boots off a floppy. (Or a flashram card if thats what you wanna use)
>
>Linux isn't exactly optimized for use as a terminal server... I'd rather
>concentrate on QoS, instead of concentrating on the cheapest solution
>around.
>
>It's not even really that much cheaper. Consider what it costs to build...
>
>Linux Server [1] - $3000
>Cyclades 48 Port [2] - $3402
>48 Modems ($125 * 48) - $6000
>Another Linux Server[3] - $2000
>-------------------------------------
>Total $14402
I would be happy to sell as many 48port termservers that you want for $1800
each. That's a far cry from $5400. I'm a hardware dealer, but I'm sure if you
did enough work you could build something yourself for close to this price (or
even less).
Hey I'll even give you a 48 stack of nice little multitech modems (what I use
myself) for $5520. ($115, tiny, connect speed leds, made in the USA, 10 year
warranty)
I'm not joking either....you can hold me to these prices. You'll not find me
openly offering these items yet, only because the router project has a little
ways to go before it it is usable by non-linux admins. (The shell and web
config utils are coming soon)
>Livingston PM3 w/50 Modems $11800
>Linux Server [4] - $2000
>--------------------------------------
>Total $13800
>
>Oops, the digital solution (i.e. the PM3) is cheaper. Here in Bell
>Atlantic-land, PRI's cost $435 a month. Livingston has support for NFAS
>coming shortly, so you can use 47 B channels over a pair of PRI's. You also
>have 3 hot spares in the PortMaster. Take a look at what the POTS lines
>cost you with the Linux+Cyclades solution, and you'll see that it's not
>worth it, since with PRI, you can also provide ISDN services.
There are PRI solutions for linux right now, but nothing for K56. (that, I've
found) I do expect to see such a solution for K56 over PRI and BRI within the
next few months.
>As an added bonus, the PM3 is a nice, small rack mountable unit. That
>Linux solution would be a monstrosity of cables, power strips, and
>home-grown racks to keep the modems from falling all over themselves.
>Probably a fire hazard too.
Is it worth $5500+ to you to not go out and buy some zip ties? Granted you are
not going to find a cleaner set-up then the PM3 right now, but that is only
because of their propritary digital modem pool cards. Once an ISA/PCI
hardware solution is out for that, this argument is dead.
You are also dealing with the same thing if you go with a PM and an external
modem setup.
That reminds me....another reason I use those multitechs is they take +9VDC.
When I get enough I'll just get one (or several for redunancy) big power
supplies. If there is enough demand I'll offer such a solution to my customers.
As for the case, any minitower will work just fine. For what I build I use a case
that is as wide at a baby motherboard and about 8 inches high. It's smaller
then a PM.
>Linux is a wonderful OS. It's great at being a server for numerous
>applications, including classic Internet related services, as well as file
>& print (Samba and Netatalk), databases (mSQL, MySQL, Flagship, others),
>workstation applications (CAD, software dev), and network management
>(scotty + tkined, SNMP, sniffit, tcpdump). It *can* also be used as a
>router or a terminal server. However, it certainly does not excel at
>either task.
Not if you haven't done your homework ; >
>[1] A studly enough box to support 48 modems.
Depends on dump or smart serial board. Smart, 486 66 should be comfortable,
dumb, pentium class...maybe 100. 16MB should be OK. With the price of
memory it won't kill you to throw in 32 either.
>[2] According to the Cyclades web site
>[3] You'll need another one to handle mail, web, dns, etc...
You always need that.
>[4] As advertised recently in the isp-services mailing list.
Anything you could build and sell for $2K I wouldn't classify as a server. : P
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