Godai,
I can not imagine anyone, in 1999, trying to figure out which LAN architecture to go
with, actually considering Token Ring. Price per station for NIC, hub/switch, and
installation/support is significantly higher for Token Ring than it is for Ethernet.
Ethernet's availability of highly competitive products and experienced technicians
are enough to keep virtually any organization from starting a new network based on
Token Ring.
Token Ring's early claim to fame was determinism. You could come up with predition
models of latency and overall performance for Token Ring based on the number of
stations per ring by figuring out the length of average transmissions and the
availability of free tokens. Shared or repeated Ethernet, on the other hand, was
less easy to predict since the access method is more random - CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense
Multiple Access / Collision Detection). These days, the point is moot. You can mix
shared and switched Ethernet to get the maximum performance per node/area including
the ability to mix in 10/100/1000 versions of Ethernet seamlessly.
I would imagine that if you priced a shared Token Ring LAN of 100 stations, two
servers, and a router connecting to the Internet to a fully switched 10BASE-T LAN
with full-dupled 100BASE-T in the servers and on the router, the Ethernet solution
would still be cheaper.
Anyway - I've been an Ethernet bigot since the first time I had to teach a class on
SNA and Token Ring back when I was at Vitalink and we were coming out with a Token
Ring bridge. Compared to Ethernet, I thought Token Ring was much more complex,
required more work on each station's part, and that it would not scale the way
Ethernet had. I have not changed my mind!
Hope that this helps! Please visit our web site's "Faster Ethernet Vendor List"
where we have hundreds of companies that will sell you 10/100/1000 Ethernet products
- many many many more than will provide you with Token Ring!
It is at http://www.wkmn.com/vend.html
Craig Wiesner - WKMN Training - InternetWorking Education Specialists
http://www.wkmn.com/refer.html Buy LAN books, feed the homeless!!!
> > Is there anyone who migrated a token ring to ethernet?
> > If so would it be possible to send me a check list of all points to study
> > before all the actions?
> > Thanks in advance.
> > PS: I worked in an ethernet environement and my new workarea is token ring.
> > Plans exist to migrate all this to ethernet (building of 500 PC, segments of
> > 80 machines).
> Can anyone enlighten me as what would be the advantages of using Ethernet
> instead of Token Ring or otherwise? Is there any reason why a company has to
> keep using TR? We're still in our initial stage of gathering information about
> this, and since we're just a small company, would it make a big difference using
> Ethernet & TR? Any specific advantages & disadvantages of using either one?
> Inquiring mind wants to know. Thanks in advance.
> Godai
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