Network Processors

[Guest]

So far as I can tell, Tom's Hardware has only concentrated on CPUs and HW issues related to PCs. What about other kinds of computer hardware? Switches, Routers, TCP/IP, ATM, etc... are all areas of interest for internet users and engineers.

Right now I am very interested in Network Processors (Motorola PowerQuicc II, C-5, Lucent or others) for use in my work. It would be nice to have general information about them in places like this because this kind of site tends to be very up to date and well informed. So, I guess my question here is.... what are the best Network Processors and do they have benchmarks?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Nonner on 11/21/00 06:47 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[HoldenMcGroin]

They fixed that now.

 

[joset]

Right now I am very interested in Network Processors (Motorola PowerQuicc II, C-5, Lucent or others) for use in my work. It would be nice to have general information about them in places like this because this kind of site tends to be very up to date and well informed. So, I guess my question here is.... what are the best Network Processors and do they have benchmarks?

That's an interesting point but a hard one for non-experts (unlike you seem to be); anyway, I know a few NPs, used in mainstream motherboards & I know they can be benched... that's about it.

Suggestion: Why don't you post some sort of installment on the subject? Perhaps it'd be easier to capture attentions; after all, it's about (non-central, yet!) processing units and it's a huge & fundamental bet on Comms & interconnect protocols...

Well, here's a small comparison (Marvell vs nVidia), from an (bit biased) article:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3/core2-chipsets/index.x?pg=18

By the way, do you think FPGAs will play a significant role in NPs?


Cheers!

 

[exit2dos]

You might also try asking this in the Network section:
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/network/