Compex Joins The Fast Crowd.

Compex, Inc. unveiled the FL6400, the first 64-bit 4-port Fast-Ethernet adapter. The card utilizes four Intel 21143 Fast-Ethernet controllers to form four 10/100 ports (Port 0 ... Port 3). The four Intel controllers sit on the secondary PCI bus created by an Intel 21153-AC PCI-PCI bridge chip. The Fast-Ethernet adapter's interface to the PCI bus is 32 or 64-bit and automatically adjusts, depending on the type of PCI bus on which it sits. It is also compatible with the PCI 2.1 specifications. Standard Intel/Digital 21143 drivers can be used to configure the following hardware features for the adapter: 4-port mode, Fail-Safe Mode, Alternative Active Port Mode, or IRQ Routing Mode.

In the 4-port mode, each port is configured to act as an independent LAN port. This gives the user four 10/100 ports on a single card.

With the Fail-Safe mode, two of the four ports are chosen as active and the other two are disabled. One port is chosen from port 0/1 and the other one from port 2/3. If there is a media failure in the active ports, the PHY (Physical layer interface) of the other (disabled) port in the pair will be automatically selected by the hardware without any user interference.

The new product has a MSRP of $315 (U.S.). It is available now through Compex's network of worldwide distributors and resellers.