From: mwr@eng.tridom.com (Mark Reardon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans.misc
Subject: Re: Token Ring vs. Ethernet
Date: 20 Nov 92 16:11:48 GMT
Reply-To: mwr@eng.tridom.com (Mark Reardon)
Organization: AT&T Tridom; Marietta, Georgia

|> In article <1992Nov18.172211.10451@mccc.edu>, pjh@mccc.edu (P. J. Holsberg) writes:
|> If you were starting from scratch (in a college) and had to network 5
|> rooms of 30 MS-DOS/Windows PCs (using multiple servers), would you use
|> Ethernet or Token Ring, and why?
|> 
|> Background: a local resident who is an expert for a company that is very
|> big in PC networking says that the only reasons that so many campuses are
|> networked with Ethernet rather than Token Ring are that (a) Ethernet was
|> on the scene first and (b) until recently, Ethernet was less expensive.
|> He contends that Token Ring is the answer to the question in the first
|> paragraph in that it is now about the same cost as Ethernet, has larger
|> packets and is thus more efficient, and has about 60% higher throughput.
|> 
|> Eagerly awaiting your opinions...

I design products for both so I don't think I have a bias from the
respect.  I do however like to keep things simple and inexpensive.
Both technologies have proven that they can do the job.  Most tests
that I have read about have concluded that the differences in 
performance are minimal if both technologies are installed properly.
Now examine the complexities of support and the price.

On a new installation I would recommend 10BaseT for ethernet.  It
is simple to install and the cheap.  Some people prefer 10Base2
because of a slight savings but 10BaseT with its star topology
is my preference.  Token Ring is also a star topology in its 
standard installation.  Because of this the actual work if 
installation is about the same and the technical problems are
similar.

The price is where I see the real difference.  In a recent review
of Token Ring interface cards the prices listed where between $800
and $1000 per card.  In the same magazine, different issue, the
prices for 10BaseT cards was under $200.  Also, 10BaseT HUBs can
be purchased for as little as $60/port.  I don't have numbers for
Token Ring but that is so low and the Token Ring hardware is so
complicated that I doubt that one can be done that cheap.

Lastly, there is the price of support.  You are connected to the
net right now and you can see the number of people who discuss
and provide free tools for ethernet.  The numbers for Token Ring
(free tools and help) just don't seem to be there.  This is caused 
partially by the fact that IBM has kept Token Ring so close to the
vest for so long that most other vendors opted for Ethernet.
People at Univ. and at companies looking to implement LAN interfaces
took one look at the complexity of Token Ring verse Ethernet and
the decision was made for them.

There is one last set of issue I would look at before making a decision.
What technologys are being used around you?  If the rest of your campus
is Token Ring you may want to pick Token Ring so you can refer to
other administrators for assistance.  Is there any desire to be compatible
with FDDI or 100 Mbit ethernet in the future?  If so then address it
now while the installation is still in the paper stage.

Which ever decision you make will probably solve your current problems
but the wise decision trys to solve the issues of the future.  All
things being considered I would prefer 10BaseT Ethernet with SNMP
managed HUBs ($80 per port) and I would use the best grade wire I
could afford with the idea being that if I need 100BaseT I could
step up without rewiring.  This means run extra pairs now.  Then
all that would be needed to upgrade are the interface cards and the
HUB.

Hope this helps.  Now, since I've shown a prefeence, I will run for
....


-- 
Mark

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| Mark Reardon           |  AT&T Tridom                             |
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