Avanti supports virtual versions of the DE435 and DE500 Network Interface Cards. Two versions of the DE500 utilizing the 21140 and 21143 chip sets are supported. The DE435 is the default NIC selected by the Configuration Utility when creating a new configuration.
The following table outlines recommended NIC usage based on the operating system being run by the virtual Alpha.
NIC |
Recommended Usage |
DE435 |
•OpenVMS version 6.1-1H1 and higher •Tru64 UNIX version 3.2C and higher |
DE500 (21140) |
•OpenVMS version 7.2 and higher •Tru64 UNIX version 4.0 up to 4.0E |
DE500 (21143) |
•OpenVMS version 7.2 and higher •Tru64 UNIX version 4.0F and higher |
The DE435 is technically a 10Mb device, while the DE500 is capable of 100Mb. However, as virtual devices, all NIC variants offer the same level of performance. Actual virtual Alpha NIC performance is closely tied to the capabilities of the host NIC with which it is associated and to the software applications that use the NIC. An I/O or CPU bound application will be unable to take full advantage of a fast NIC.
