Richard, Try having a look at www.disklessworkstations.com they advertise a PCI Ethernet 100Mb (Cat5 UTP) NIC with BootROM for 35 US dollars if I remember correctly. Alternatively, they sell pre-burnt ROM's too. I'm thinking of using them as a supplier so any feedback would be appreciated. HTH Paul --- Richard C Ferri <rcferri@us.ibm.com> wrote: > > > Marty, > Thanks for your response. I guess what I > really want is the ability > to boot my nodes remotely without having to use a > boot diskette. From your > note, that means I could use netboot or pxe > technology. I didn't realize I > had a choice -- I assumed pxe was synonymous with > diskette-less boot, and > netboot always required diskettes to boot -- I see > now that that is not the > case. > Since I don't have a ROM burner, and I'm not > sure I have the patience > to invest in writing my own EPROMs (I'm more a > software guy, I like my > hardware "commodity off the shelf") I guess I'm back > to either the eepro100 > or 3com that you mention. You know, since IBM > makes an eepro100 card, > and I work for IBM, maybe I could actually *order* > some internally... no, > it's too much to ask ;-) > > thanks again, Rich > > Marty Connor <mdc@thinguin.org>@baghira.han.de on > 01/15/2001 05:18:37 PM > > Please respond to netboot@baghira.han.de > > Sent by: owner-netboot@baghira.han.de > > > To: "Netboot List" <netboot@baghira.han.de> > cc: Richard C Ferri/Poughkeepsie/IBM@IBMUS > Subject: Re: cheap pxe enabled ethernet adapters > > > > > On 1/15/2001 3:24 PM Richard C Ferri > rcferri@us.ibm.com wrote: > >Hi everyone, > > I'm looking for a reasonably priced ethernet > adapter that is pxe > >enabled for network boot. I have to buy about a > dozen of them for my lab, > >so cost is an issue. > > Interesting question. Being an Etherboot developer, > if you hadn't > specifically asked for PXE I'd suggest using > Etherboot, but I'm sure you > have your reasons for wanting PXE, and so here is > some advice... > > >I have an eepro100 (etherjet) adpater which PXE > boots > >nicely, but the going price is about $75USD per > adapter, and that's > >expensive. Can anyone suggest a cheaper adapter? > I don't quite > understand > >the disparity between the typical PCI ethernet > adapter which is about > >$15USD, and the eepro100, which is 5 times more > expensive... from what I > >understand the PXE elemet is only a couple of > dollars more... > > The eepro/100+ has expensive flash ROM on it, the > Intel brand (and > associated advertising costs), and it's a fast, > well-made card. 3Com has > a card in the same price range 3c905c-tx-m that has > PXE in flash ROM as > well. The advantage being that you can update the > card's flash without > having to replace a ROM. In the case of the 3Com, > you can do it while > the card is running. Pretty nice. (we've been able > to develop tools and > techniques as part of the Etherboot project to flash > Etherboot code into > those cards as well). > > > Anyway, I'd appreciate any suggestions for a > reasonably priced pxe > >enabled ethernet adapter... thanks in advance. > > Well, here's what you might consider doing. Try a > cheap rtl8139-based > card. Many if not most of the less expensive cards > are RTL8139 based. > ADDTRON makes a nice little one. I've seen them for > about 12$US in > stores, with ROM socket. Linux supports them. Now > you need a PXE boot > ROM. > > Check out: > > > http://www.bootix.com/us/products/promtypes.shtml#Realtek > > and: > > http://www.bootix.com/us/price/pxeprom.shtml > > There's your (commercial) PXE boot ROM. 16$US > apiece (qty discounts > available). > > So you put a 16$ bootrom on a 12$ PCI 10/100 card, > and theoretically, you > have a PXE-enabled card for less than 30$US (figure > tax and shipping, > etc). With volume discounts, perhaps less than > 20$US. Of course you > have to do some work to make it work, and your time > is worth something, > but it might still be a win. > > Now a ROM itself is probably 3$US, so if you could > use Etherboot or > Netboot or NILO (http://nilo.sourceforge.net/) you > wouldn't have to pay > so much for a boot ROM (which may well cost more > than the whole ethernet > card). You'd need to get a ROM burner or have the > ROMs burned, however, > so that could add cost if you don't have that > capability in-house. > > So that's my initial, off-the-cuff impression to get > you going; there > are possibly others who have implemented PXE on > inexpensive cards that > can make other suggestions. > > I hope this helps you. > > Marty > > --- > Try: http://rom-o-matic.net/ to make Etherboot > images instantly. > > Name: Martin D. Connor > US Mail: Entity Cyber, Inc.; P.O. Box 391827; > Cambridge, MA 02139; USA > Voice: (617) 491-6935, Fax: (617) 491-7046 > Email: mdc@thinguin.org > Web: http://www.thinguin.org/ > > > =========================================================================== > This Mail was sent to netboot mailing list by: > Marty Connor <mdc@thinguin.org> > To get help about this list, send a mail with 'help' > as the only string in > it's body to majordomo@baghira.han.de. If you have > problems with this list, > send a mail to netboot-owner@baghira.han.de. > > > > > =========================================================================== > This Mail was sent to netboot mailing list by: > "Richard C Ferri" <rcferri@us.ibm.com> > To get help about this list, send a mail with 'help' > as the only string in > it's body to majordomo@baghira.han.de. If you have > problems with this list, > send a mail to netboot-owner@baghira.han.de. > _______________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Consiga gratis su dirección @yahoo.es en http://correo.yahoo.es =========================================================================== This Mail was sent to netboot mailing list by: =?iso-8859-1?q?Paul=20Lilley?= <paullilley@yahoo.es> To get help about this list, send a mail with 'help' as the only string in it's body to majordomo@baghira.han.de. If you have problems with this list, send a mail to netboot-owner@baghira.han.de.
For requests or suggestions regarding this mailing list archive please write to netboot@gkminix.han.de.