Would the use of a mainframe determine whether a business was using a Token Ring?

[Bloodbooger]

The wording on my assignment is throwing me off a bit.

A company has mainframes at each location, must they be on an Ethernet protocol or Token Ring?

I can't seem to find anything that states either protocol wouldn't work with a mainframe, and the use of the word "must" seems a bit sketch as if it is a clue.

Any help?

 

[darthbudge]

"A company has mainframes at each location, must they be on an Ethernet protocol or Token Ring?"

Is that the exact question? If it is, the company could use either Ethernet or Token Ring. I really can't see any reason why it would be restricted to one or the other simply because of the addition of mainframes. I think there is more to the question though.

 

[Bloodbooger]

"Company #1 has mainframes for all of its banks and businesses. Must the company use the Ethernet or Token Ring protocol? Explain your choice. Why is this choice appropriate?"

"Company #2 has offices on the second, third, and fourth floors of the office building it occupies. Must the company use the Ethernet or Token Ring protocol? Explain your choice. Why is this choice appropriate?"

That's pretty much it... I actually chose Ethernet for both options, as I can't see a very good reason to use Token Rings. If the tech was built up, it may still be viable, but it has pretty much been let go of for awhile.

I feel like I'm supposed to choose one answer for each, but I ended up elaborating on why I would not use Tokens over Ethernet.

Thank you though!

 

[dafoomie]

There are a few scenarios where token ring might be appropriate for mainframes. If they're already using token ring it would probably be cost prohibitive to switch to ethernet, and you could just bridge your token ring network with your ethernet network anyway. Its most commonly seen in banks and insurance companies who are heavily invested in it with no real reason to upgrade.

There is no scenario where token ring would be appropriate at all in the second question as it does not mention mainframes, which would imply that you're dealing with desktops. Token ring as a LAN is dead, and thank god.

 

[epobirs]

This was an incredibly badly worded question. Is the instructor a native English speaker?

Two decades ago you might have had a situation where TR was the sole option offered by the vendor but even then there were bridges widely available on the market to go between TR and any other major standard.

The bigger issue is what they use those system for. Token Ring's main virtue is deterministic behavior. When a signal will arrive can be predicted with high accuracy, compared to Ethernet's "we're working on it, be patient" approach. The results can be hard for humans to perceive but it can make a life or death difference where it matters. For something like a drive-by-wire system, you really want determinism. A business office, not so much. Token Ring is dead but a lot of specialized networking systems have their heritage there.

I recently had a job as part of a crew pulling Ethernet lines into an old campus in Pasadena, CA once known as Ambassador College. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassador_College They're using as the main location for a T series called 'Glory Daze' about college life in the 1980s. In addition to use as a set, many of the old offices in the administrative building are set up as offices for the crew. We were hired to provide networking and VOIP phones.

It was a bit weird as the place had been almost completely untouched for many years since it was shut down under dubious circumstances. One of the wacky aspects of the joint was the extensive Token Ring network. This came in handy for running our lines. Like almost everything else about the place, tons of stuff was just abandoned. There was gear there I'd only ever seen before in class rooms and shut down factories.