Performance potential of communications interface processors
SIGCOMM '83 Proceedings of the eighth symposium on Data communications
A performance model for hardware/software issues in computer-aided design of protocol systems
SIGCOMM '84 Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM symposium on Communications architectures and protocols: tutorials & symposium
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A Network Front End (NFE) is a mini-computer which is used to connect a host computer to the communicating network. The purpose of using an NFE, as contrasted to connecting the host computer directly to the network, is to reduce the processing load imparted to the host computer by the network interfacing software. This paper presents a comparative evaluation of the NFE attachment method in relation to the host direct connection method. The comparative evaluation addressed two major areas: the impact on the host of the network interface software and end-to-end network performance. Various evaluation experiments were conducted, the results of which indicate that the NFE is a promising alternative to host direct connection in terms of performance in the WWMCCS Intercomputer Network (WIN). In addition, the NFE also has the capability to satisfy the standardized high capacity host-AUTODIN II interface requirement and to provide other features, such as direct terminal to network connection and network security, not available in the WIN architecture. It is recommended that refinement of the NFE and further development be continued.