Re: (PM) Two weeks later, and still no working ComOS

Florian Lohoff (flo@mini.gt.owl.de)
Sun, 19 Jul 1998 17:31:58 +0200

> On Sat, 18 Jul 1998, Florian Lohoff wrote:
>
> > I have the direct comparison at work with Ascend Max 4000/TNT, USR TC (HiPER
> > and old Quad/NetServer) and i got a PM3 for doing some hobby ISP things.
> >
> > 3COM/USR has by FAR the BEST modem code. I dont like their E1/NetS/NMC/Modem
> > splitting but the HiPerArc and HiPerDSP are great.
>
> We have Netservers and there are Sportster users who can't connect to them
> with X2, but can use X2 when calling the TotalControl boxes of another
> ISP. When a vendor's own products don't interoperate properly, something
> is not right.

This might be a problem of you modem code and/or wrong/unset feature keys
in the NMC. No problems here ...

> > Ascend has the best configuration/code management for big networks.
> > RADIUS configuration for DIALOUT location on reboot and/or request.
> > Easy configuration dumping/restoring via TFTP... I get a replacement
> > box up and running in <5 Minutes with ALL configurations etc. They
> > have known performance problems at 4xE1 on a 4000 so you may only
> > put 2 on it (TNT has similar problems).
>
> Getting a PM2 or PM3 up and running takes about 5 minutes. No silly menus
> or things like that to get in my way. Out of 10 PM2s and 4 PM3s, I never
> have needed a replacement box (a replacement BRI card yes, but not a
> totally hosed box).

This is just a matter of quantity. We have around 230 locations where
sometimes the Air Conditions fail and something and suddenly some
PowerSupply fries or something. BTW: I dont think you can put up
an PM3 with around 100 Dialout locations etc withing 5 minutes.

> > The PM3 is a small handy thing and in comparison is very cheap. The
> > ComOS needs a complete redesign to keep up with current NetWorkManagement
> > needs (Remote configuration etc) but the modem code seems to be the worsest
> > of all the above.
>
> You don't consider telnet remote configuration or management? What about
> PMVision for either one? There really isn't a whole lot that one needs to
> do once they get a box up and running.

We have a quantity of boxes around (at work) which prevents us from using
and nice looking clickable frontend like TCM pmconsole/vision and so on.
all our network management software is homebrewed and suits our needs
and has all information in a DB backend.

> I'd love for you to elaborate as to why ComOS needs a complete redesign.
> With the exception of the V.90 modem code (which we have had pretty good
> results with, compared to other people), it rocks. 3Com's new (4.whatever)
> Netserver software that isn't based on ComOS is crap. Lucent sees that
> new features for some platforms (like NAT or NFAS) are needed are and
> working on it.

The HiPerArc software makes a good look&feel to me and seems to do what it
should and does what it should very stable. I ment the ComOS needs some
things for larger networks like i already explained. You cant imagine what
problems you have with local profiles if you have >500 Chassis of different
brands around (TC, TNT, Max4k) ... DialInOut locations on lokal profiles
are a pain in the *s.

Flo

-- 
Florian Lohoff		flo@mini.gt.owl.de      	+49-5241-470566
-
To unsubscribe, email 'majordomo@livingston.com' with
'unsubscribe portmaster-users' in the body of the message.
Searchable list archive: <URL:http://www.livingston.com/Tech/archive/>