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Well, here's what I got after calling tech support:
Compaq FAQ: Where do I get Linux drivers for Compaq servers? (FAQ2004)
We have found that the Redhat version includes drivers for most of the
intergrated devices in the Compaq systems. But does not have drivers for the
Compaq family of array controllers or Compaq NICs that plug into slots. The
Redhat version has a lot more driver support then the Slackware version. By
using cards that are on the Linux compatibility list you should be able to
get Linux to work on Compaq servers. But Compaq has not tested these
configurations.
Compaq now or in the near future will not be providing Linux drivers. This
is because the Linux operating system is a public domain OS. There is not a
single source of ownership to go to when trying to resolve OS issues like
there is for SCO Unix and other versions of Unix on the market. Because
there is no single source for the compiled binary code required to install
and run the OS, there is no way to guarantee driver compatibility with all
the flavors of Linux.
Compaq Engineering has decided that they will not provide or release
hardware drivers unless they can be fully certified and supported. Since
Linux does not have a single source manufacture, this is not possible with
Linux. But you can by all means make a formal request in writing to Compaq
Engineering concerning your need for Linux drivers. The address is:
Compaq Computer Corp.
Attn. Engineering Dept.
MS. 050702
20555 State Hwy. 249
Houston, TX 77070
Created: 11/19/98
Modified: 2/19/99 2:53:28 PM
Author: COMPAQ - Robert G
As I recall, Compaq does have a stake in RedHat, so this has to have
changed at least somewhat (witness the Smart Array driver they are working
on), but how much is anyone's guess.
I believe that Compaq NIC's had a problem with spurious interupts under NT
that took forever to fix. The TLAN drivers never had that problem, but they
wouldn't work with the Compaq cards at that time. Compaq is well known for
"enhancing" the hardware they get from other sources, so it wouldn't suprise
me if they made some changes during manufacturing.
One last thought - the integrated nic in the 2500 (and 3000, 1850,et al)
may not be exactly the same chipset that the TLAN driver was created for.
Compaq started integrating technology from Thomas Conrad around the time of
the 2500's design and added the "Netelligent" name to all their NICS. I
haven't looked into the design of the TLAN drivers for Linux, so I could be
wrong here.
As for the issue with the 3com card - we didn't optimize the card's
performance characteristics using the diagnostics, but that should be a
minor thing. I tend to think that the major difference in speed between the
two cards was basically luck - some combination of users downloading from
the server and utilization of the route we took to and from that server
during each test. A more stringent test would have attempted to download a
file from a server on the local subnet to eliminate some variables. Since
our goal was simply to have the machine run, we weren't really interested in
going that far.
If anyone has further questions, or wants to work on some of this, let me
know.
BTW - David, that Trinity document is sweet - thanks for putting that out
for everyone....
J.
-----Original Message-----
From: David A. Ranch [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Monday, July 19, 1999 6:58 PM
To: Mark Mott; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Resolution to Compaq Proliant MASQ throughput problem
Interesting. By any chance did Compaq invest in Redhat like
Intel and others COs did?
Regardless, I need to ask you a personal favor here. Please
begin the work and track down the person(s) at Compaq who
would be responsible for Linux hardware support.
Once you find him/her, relay this information to them and get
them to contact James Banks (author of the Tlan drivers) to
get this issue resolved. Ok?
Also.. it strikes me odd that the 3c905 card was 100KB slowwer
than Intel card. I understand that Tulip-based and Intel
NICs are the best supported under linux but the 3com cards
should still be pretty fast.
--David
At 04:41 PM 7/17/99 -0500, Mark Mott wrote:
>David, and all,
>
>Just a note to let you know that my issue with the Proliant 2500 is the
>internal integrated Netelligent 10/100 NIC! Don't use it. Install two
>PCI NICs and this will resolve the problem.
>
>Many thanks to Jon Watts for his assistance.
>
>Details:
>
>The issue is with the TLAN Linux driver and the Proliant 2500 internal
>NIC. Even upgrading to Linux v2.2.10 (which increased the NICs download
>speed by 500%) still did not correct the stall problems. Our best guess
>is that Compaq modified (tweezed) the chipset or opcodes so that it no
>longer matches published specs, and the individual who wrote the TLAN
>driver did not have a Proliant 2500 to test with, so this was never
>caught. Also this server is on the Redhat approved hardware list!
>
>
>We tested each NIC I had to the cablemodem, and by using Netscape in
>Xwindows on the Proliant were able to identify that the stalls were
>unique to the integrated Compaq NIC. My new NIC config is a Intel
>EtherExpress Pro 10/100 using eepro100.c ( a remarketted Compaq WS NIC,
>not the server card) (which averaged 400KB/sec during downloads of a
>large .tar file) as the cablemodem pipe card and a 3Com Etherlink XL
>10/100 using 3c59x.c(which averaged 300KB/sec during downloads of the
>same .tar file) for the internal network.
>
>Interesting side note: We tested the standard 3Com Etherlink XL 10 only
>PCI card that @home installs by default using the same 3c59x.c, and it
>only gets 30 KB/sec during downloads of the same .tar file, so be warned
>that there is a big performance difference in the cards on the same 10
>Mbps pipe!
>
>I still have some fine tuning to do, including changing the window in
>all the route add spots in ifup, but that is for next week.
>
>
>Thought everyone would like to know. If you know of place where this
>needs to be posted to get to the rest of the people who need it, please
>forward.
>
>Thanks for everyone's help and attention.
>
>Original message:
>
>
>Here is my current situation
>
>I have built my first Linux (RH6) Server. I
>haven't worked with Unix in almost 15 years. This has been a real
>learning experience.
>
>I need help with masquerading performance tuning. I have my server on a
>cable modem on
>eth0 and a 100M LAN on eth1. I have the email and brousing working, but
>downloads a incredibly slow and some web sites take forever to load (if
>not at all)
>while others pop right up. I also get monster email messages from
>home.com which time out when checking for new mail (I know I can
>unsubscribe from this, but I need to be able to get this type of email
>through my Linux MASQ server; so for now I log onto a direct Win95 PC
>and dump the @home junk).
>
>I'll spare you the details (other than I am
>on a Compaq Proliant 2500 (Pentium Pro 200) w/ 96M RAM and eth0 is on
>the integrated Compaq 10/100 NIC.
>
>I am composing this on a Win95 PC through the masq. so it is working,
>but performance is poor compared to connecting a Win95 PC direct to the
>same cablemodem.
>
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