Fail-open ethernet cards

Hi,

I'm looking for a dual Ethernet network card that will fail-open -
i.e. if it is installed on a machine that functions as a bridge (or
firewall) will allow all traffic to go right through in the event that
the machine loses its power.

Any help is greatly appreciated,
-Ron

> I'm looking for a dual Ethernet network card that will fail-open -
> i.e. if it is installed on a machine that functions as a bridge (or
> firewall) will allow all traffic to go right through in the event that
> the machine loses its power.

That's not a function of network cards, you're not going to find one. On
the good side, you probably don't even need to worry about the NIC failing.
Buy a decent NIC (no $3 used, surplus equipment), and chances are that
you'll go through hard drives, fans, and power supplies in scores long
before you'll have a NIC fail.

steve

I'm not afraid of the NIC failing - but if the machine loses power I
want the dual card to become as close to a passive network TAP as
possible. Is there anything like that?

"Steve Wolfe" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
> > I'm looking for a dual Ethernet network card that will fail-open -
> > i.e. if it is installed on a machine that functions as a bridge (or
> > firewall) will allow all traffic to go right through in the event that
> > the machine loses its power.
>
> That's not a function of network cards, you're not going to find one. On
> the good side, you probably don't even need to worry about the NIC failing.
> Buy a decent NIC (no $3 used, surplus equipment), and chances are that
> you'll go through hard drives, fans, and power supplies in scores long
> before you'll have a NIC fail.
>
> steve

> I'm not afraid of the NIC failing - but if the machine loses power I
> want the dual card to become as close to a passive network TAP as
> possible. Is there anything like that?

I highly doubt it, although it might not be terribly difficult for a
manufacturer to make - take a dual-port controller, and use whatever
switching method so that without power, the lines from one jack were
connected to the other. Of course, that would add one more layer of
complexity for something to go wrong! : )

steve