Token Ring
...e Cisco routers, the picture is bleak. Bay Networks, for example, is a member of the HSTR alliance, but when I asked about HSTR development plans, no one at Bay was able to share anything with me. I specifically asked if there would be an HSTR interface for Bay routers, and I couldn't get a commitment that one would ever exist. Building HSTR networks is like building an island with no port--it might be a very nice island, but eventually you'll want a way to get back to the rest of world. The HSTR vendors very carefully spin the advantages of the technology. They tell you it's only marginally more expensive than 16-Mbps Token Ring, and that's true. However, they don't compare the cost of HSTR to the cost of Ethernet, particularly when most of today's PCs have a 10/100 Ethernet port on the motherboard. They tell you HSTR will run on existing wiring as well as single and multimode fiber, and that's also true. But they don't tell you it's true because HSTR used the Fast Ethernet physical media specification--anywhere that one runs, the other does too. In the short term--and I mean the very short term--HSTR might solve a problem or two and thus might be a fine tactical purchase. But please don't bet your network on it for the long run. There was indeed a technology war. Token Ring and Ethernet fought it out for the desktop, and by a roughly 10-to-1 margin, Token Ring lost. If you are in a position where you need to add significant throughput to your network, consider this to be the ide...