Gigabitovy ethernet na Linuxu

[Jan Kasprzak]

Zdroj: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/990203/wa_packet__1.html

Jedna z nejvetsich firem v oblasti gigabitoveho ethernetu - Packet Engines,
ohlasila podporu Linuxu pro svoje vyrobky.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday February 3, 8:04 am Eastern Time

Company Press Release

Packet Engines Announces Collaborative
Development Of G-NIC II Gigabit Ethernet
NIC Drivers Supporting Linux, VIA and BSD
For Gigabit Ethernet

-- Labs and Educators Herald Packet Engines' Unique Driver Support --

SPOKANE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 1999--
Packet Engines, an Alcatel company and a worldwide leader in gigabit
networking solutions, today announced that the company's ongoing
collaboration with government laboratories and educators has now resulted
in the only Linux, VIA and BSD Unix Gigabit Ethernet network interface
card (NIC) drivers available today.

Support for Linux is key to many Fortune 1000 companies now examining the
deployment of a wide variety of operating systems in their networks. The
drivers are designed for use with Packet Engines' G-NIC II, the industry's
only second-generation Gigabit Ethernet NIC.

Donald Becker, staff scientist at NASA CESDIS at Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, authored the Linux driver code, which
he developed through collaborative efforts with Packet Engines' G-NIC
engineering development team.

``Packet Engines has been exceedingly helpful in providing support for
our Linux development efforts,'' Becker said. ``As a matter of fact,
Packet Engines is the only Gigabit Ethernet company that has really been
open to Linux, and we are very pleased with their ongoing assistance
and support.''

Becker hosts a website for his Linux driver, and offers ongoing support
through a reflector to which interested parties may subscribe.

Packet Engines has also collaborated to help produce VIA (Virtual
Interface Architecture) driver code for work in conjunction with
Linux. VIA provides a protocol specification for NICs for use in
specialized applications involving clustering, server-to-server
networking, and parallel distributed computing.

``Our implementation of VIA for Linux, M-VIA, has optimized drivers for
Packet Engines' hardware,'' said William Saphir, leader of the Future
Technologies Group at the Department of Energy's National Energy Research
Scientific Computing Center in Berkeley, California. ``M-VIA provides
a factor of 2 to 3 latency improvement over the Linux TCP performance,
which is already the best in the industry. Packet Engines has been very
supportive of our Linux development efforts,'' Saphir added.

``The G-NIC II is enabling research and OEM customers by providing
significant gains in time-to-market for Gigabit Ethernet-capable
applications,'' said Bob Jones, vice president of Packet Engines'
Entry Systems Division. ``The code is second-generation, proven, and
high performing.''

The BSD Unix driver, authored by Chris Csanady, network research
programmer for the Scalable Computing Laboratory of Ames Lab in Ames,
Iowa, is also now available as the result of ongoing collaboration by
Csanady and Packet Engines.

``Packet Engines has been especially receptive and responsive to our
BSD development efforts,'' Csanady said. ``Other companies have not
been as open or as easy to work with on Open Unix platforms. I applaud
the efforts of Packet Engines in helping to expand solutions throughout
the industry.''

``G-NIC II adapters have been shipping since July 1998, and have
gained significant development support from universities and research
laboratories around the world,'' said Kim Stearns, director of Packet
Engines' Internet Development. ``The G-NIC II is the only choice for
Linux, VIA and BSD Unix users today.''

The G-NIC II is the industry's only second-generation Gigabit Ethernet
adapter, maximizing performance and host CPU availability in high-end
servers and workstations. Designed for 32-bit and 64-bit PCI bus
computers, Packet Engines' G-NIC II offers the only Gigabit Ethernet
support for Linux, VIA and BSD Unix drivers, as well as for Microsoft
(Nasdaq:MSFT - news) Windows 98, Microsoft Windows NT, Novell NetWare,
Sun Solaris, Digital Unix, Apple Mac OS and SGI IRIX operating systems.

About the Linux, VIA and BSD Unix Drivers

Linux, VIA and BSD Unix Drivers are available today, through
links from the Packet Engines G-NIC II Device Drivers page at:
http://www.packetengines.com/support/drivers/gnic2drivers.htm In
addition, support for the Linux device driver may be accessed at:
http://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/linux/drivers/hamachi.html The M-VIA drivers
and website are located at: http://www.nersc.gov/research/FTG/via/
Information about the BSD Unix driver device may be found at:
http://www.ameslab.gov/

About Packet Engines 

Packet Engines, an Alcatel company, was founded in 1994 to develop
networking solutions delivering gigabit performance and mission-critical
reliability for enterprise, ISP, and service provider networks. The
company offers a complete suite of high-performance gigabit networking
solutions including the PowerRail family of routing switches, the FDR
Gigabit Ethernet hub, and G-NIC II Gigabit Ethernet network interface
cards. Packet Engines is now providing these solutions directly and via
a variety of industry partners.

On December 14, 1998, Packet Engines was acquired by Alcatel (NYSE:ALA -
news), a world leader in telecommunications systems and equipment. Alcatel
operates in over 130 countries providing complete solutions and services
to operators, service providers, enterprises and consumers, ranging from
backbone networks to user terminals. For more information about Packet
Engines, visit www.packetengines.com. For more information about Alcatel,
visit www.alcatel.com.

PowerRail, FDR, G-NIC II, Packet Engines and the Packet Engines logo are
trademarks of Packet Engines Incorporated. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.

Contact:

     For Packet Engines
     Vivian Kelly, 703/860-0707
     vivian_kelly na interprosepr.com
--
\ Jan "Yenya" Kasprzak <kas at fi.muni.cz>       http://www.fi.muni.cz/~kas/
\\ PGP: finger kas at aisa.fi.muni.cz   0D99A7FB206605D7 8B35FCDE05B18A5E //
\\\             Czech Linux Homepage:  http://www.linux.cz/              ///
///    Can you say "ignored email" three times quickly while chewing     \\\
//     on an apple?                                 --Linus Torvalds      \\