OT: TBolt eSATA adaptor is pretty darn slick at first glance.

[Chris Harlan]

[Chris Kenny] “But you can’t seem to explain how. What exactly is your interpretation of Intel’s statement that Thunderbolt’s transport layer supports tree/star topologies?”

As I have already said, because the Transport Layer is above the Physical Layer, and the Physical Layer seems to have requirements that might open it up for switching but not for hubing. Do you understand layer abstraction and how each layer is subjugated to the properties of the layer below it?

We’re just going to have to disagree like we do on so much else. I just don’t have the time to ferret it out any further. Personally, I would be more than happy to be wrong in my assumptions. I would certainly like a hub. It would be so much more convenient. My search for one, however, has suggested that I will not find one for the reasons I have detailed.

[Chris Kenny]

[Chris Harlan] “As I have already said, because the Transport Layer is above the Physical Layer, and the Physical Layer seems to have requirements that might open it up for switching but not for hubing. Do you understand layer abstraction and how each layer is subjugated to the properties of the layer below it? “

I understand that the transport layer is built on top of the physical layer, but there is no reason to believe the physical layer fundamentally lacks support for tree/star topologies, and given that the Thunderbolt physical layer is the only physical layer on which the Thunderbolt transport layer is implemented, it would be utterly bizarre for Intel to note that the latter supported tree/star topologies if the former didn’t. For instance, Intel also mentions that the transport layer supports “A novel time synchronization protocol that allows all the Thunderbolt products connected in a domain to synchronize their time within 8ns of each other”. Would you argue that maybe Thunderbolt doesn’t really support synchronization to within 8ns, because it isn’t explicitly stated that the physical layer has sufficient performance to enable this?

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Digital Workflow/Colorist, Nice Dissolve.

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[Chris Harlan]

Oh, dude. There is just so much to untangle in your answer, and I just don’t have the time for this kind of distraction today. We just have to disagree.