Interestingly enough, there are now 5 Pentium Pro marks available for linux. The performance is awesome and the 'processing value' compared to many COTS FOO-UNIXs is truely amazing (not that the P5 100+ figures were *poor*, they are not!, but the Pentium Pro numbers suprised me. That is why, when I cruise the 'Files' and review the dollar amount of projects such as the RA (also awe-struck by the dollar amount, BTW ;-) it seems ironic that projects of such importance to the IP World can be configured to not to withstand a single platform crash (and as pointed out, you don't need P Pros and other higher end processors for hot and cold secondaries in this application). For example, for the 'public files': -------------------------------------------------------- NSF Org : NCR Latest Amendment Date : August 17, 1995 File : a9321060 Award Number: 9321060 Award Instr.: Cooperative Agreement Prgm Manager: Priscilla Jane Huston NCR DIV OF NETWORKING & COMMU RES & INFRASTR CSE DIRECT FOR COMPUTER & INFO SCIE & ENGINR Start Date : July 1, 1994 Expires : June 30, 1998 (Estimated) Expected Total Amt. : $10,360,637 (Estimated) Investigator: Eric M Aupperle Sponsor : Merit Inc 2200 Bonisteel Blvd Ann Arbor, MI 481092099 313/764-9423 NSF Program : 4091 NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE Fld Science : 31 Computer Science & Engineering Fld Applictn: 0206000 Telecommunications Abstract : 9321060 Merit, Inc. Aupperle The major project elements for the routing arbiter include advancement of Internet routing algorithms with respect to scaling and stability issues, routing information registration and dissemination for the network service providers serving the Internet, deployment of route servers to aid in the dissemination and real time maintenance of the global Internet routing system, and coordination and sharing of technical information in support of the Internet operations community. A key task for the routing arbiter will be to enhance the use of new switched services offered by the telecommunications carriers, sucy as ATM, in place of dedicated point to point technology that is widely deployed in wide area internets. This proposal is a part of a collaborative effort with USC. Merit will take the lead responsibility for the Management and Coordination, Transition, Routing Registry Dababase, Routing Operations Center (ROC) and GateD software development and collaboration. It will provide consultation to USC in routing engineering who will take the lead in research and development. Both the Merit and USC teams will collaborate in all areas, but Merit will take the lead for operations, for communications with clients relative to the services provided and for overall coordination. --------------------------end database file----------------------------- I think there is a mistake (maybe?) in the database because the $10,149,218 dollar program with RA as the 'major project element' is award #9321043; but award #9321060 has the *exact* same abstact for $10,360,637.... (I plead guilty for not understanding why the same abstract appears twice under two awards with similar but different dollar amounts and different award numbers...) I'll stop now, I can't explain why there are two $10 M awards in the database to Merit. Except that it must be an operator entry error in the database... Certainly, in either event, a couple of redundant foo-unix servers would not break the bank of the Investigator and would have greatly been appreciated by the MAE-WEST RA user and provider community. Happy Trails, Tim --- And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear You shout and no one seems to hear And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes I'll see you on the dark side of the moon. -Roger Waters