Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ncis.tis.llnl.gov!helios.ee.lbl.gov!network!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!well!josefk
From: josefk@well.UUCP (William B. Douglas)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.appletalk
Subject: Re: Need help with phoneNET
Message-ID: <13102@well.UUCP>
Date: 11 Aug 89 22:24:36 GMT
References: <8908080628.AA28970@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu> <8908081432.AA12823@aquarium.ecn.purdue.edu>
Reply-To: josefk@well.UUCP (William B. Douglas)
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA
Lines: 25

In article <8908081432.AA12823@aquarium.ecn.purdue.edu> moyman@AQUARIUM.ECN.PURDUE.EDU (Mike "appletalk" MacMoya) writes:
>
>...With this in mind you can easily picture *many* more
>than 48 macs connected through a star controller...
>--moya
>
Hmm.  You can _picture_ it, but would you _do_ it?  I hope not.  While the
ostensible addressing limit of a LocalTalk net is 254 devices, the bandwidth
maxes out at about 50 (presuming PhoneNET - it usually dies quicker on
Apple hardware).  So, you could have a Star Controller with 10 1-machine
ports, 1 branch each, and 1 port with 35 machines distributed across four
branches, and one port with a bridge or gateway to get you the rest of your
net. You really shouldn't try to cram more than about 50 devices onto your
LocalTalk net.  I assume you're not going to try to support more than one
net per Star Controller.  More typical is an even distribution of machines
across ports, with things like gateways given their very own port.

Another helpful hint from

	blackey douglas, tech support, farallon computing.

-- 
		josefk@well.sf.ca.us
		{apple,hoptoad,hplabs}!well!josefk	
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