Actually, switches (bridges -- same thing, just a different marketing name) came way earlier. The first bridges showed up fairly soon after Ethernet first shipped. I think the first one was the Vitalink bridge, which would run over a satellite link (fairly slowly). The first full-speed bridge was the DECbridge-100 (two AUI ports) -- it established the performance standard for bridges, full speed wire rate min size packets all the time. I don't remember when that product came out -- perhaps 1984, maybe even a year or two earlier. paul -----Original Message----- From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of jeep at scshome.net Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 11:57 AM To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE Subject: RE: [HECnet] DECrepeater 900TM Like Paul said it is a hub not a switch. It was designed to be used in the DEChub-900 chassis or standalone. It just preceded the Alpha family of systems so was targeted at VAXen (10base-T) based systems. Switches came afterwards. -Steve _____ From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE on behalf of Paul Koning Sent: Wed 10/28/2009 11:31 To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE Subject: RE: [HECnet] DECrepeater 900TM I found a manual online: http://www.carnagevisors.net/dec94mds/detmminb.pdf It's a repeater (a.k.a., hub) not a switch (a.k.a., bridge). It's not fancy at all. A repeater takes incoming Ethernet transmissions and repeats them on all the other ports unconditionally. Also, a repeater is by definition a half duplex device, so you have the CSMA/CD (collisions and all that) of classic Ethernet. A bridge receives a packet and transmits it on the appropriate output port (if any), and can be full duplex. The 900TM is 10Base-T, so 10 Mb/s Ethernet -- not fast Ethernet (100Base-T). Suitable for old slow Ethernet devices... paul -----Original Message----- From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of Mark Wickens Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 11:22 AM To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE Subject: [HECnet] DECrepeater 900TM Can someone explain to me what a decrepeater 900tm is? Is is a fancy 32 port 10MB switch? Regards, Mark. --