A Core Competence Product Evaluation
Out of the Box: Hardware, Software, Documentation and Accessories
The DataFire-U can be installed in a PC with one free 8 or 16-bit ISA slot; no CPU or memory requirements are specified by Digi. We installed this card in a Pentium 150 with 16 MB of RAM with no difficulty. The DataFire-U has an integrated NT-1 (network termination), providing a single RJ-45 jack for connection to your ISDN subscriber line U interface. The DataFire/4 and the single-BRI DataFire S/T both require the use of an external NT-1.
ODI and NDIS drivers for DOS and RAS drivers for Windows for Workgroups 3.11 and Windows NT were packaged with the card; additional drivers can be obtained from Digi’s web site. We tested this product by downloading Digi’s Windows 95 DataFire drivers and Microsoft’s ISDN Accelerator Pack 1.0 for Windows 95 directly off the web. (Hopefully, you have an analog modem around to do this!) The DataFire/4 and another variation of the single-BRI DataFire, the DataFire S1, also support Novell NetWare drivers.
Our evaluation unit arrived with documentation covering installation under DOS, Windows for Workgroups, and Windows NT, and one cable with RJ-45 terminations to connect the card to an ISDN wall jack. Since we planned to install this card in a PC running Windows 95, we downloaded the corresponding DataFire installation instructions contained in a README file from the web site. No additional Windows 95 documentation was provided or required to successfully install and configure the card.
What else do you need to install the Digi DataFire? An ISDN wall jack, of course – you’ll need to purchase an ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) from your local telephone company or other ISDN local access provider, and either have the inside ISDN wiring installed or do it yourself. And you’ll need someplace to call – the phone number of an ISDN access server and an appropriately configured dial-in account. If you plan to use the ISDN to surf the web, you’ll need to purchase a single-host ISDN dial-in account from an Internet Access Provider. If you plan to use the card for remote access to your corporate network (the DataFire's forte), you’ll need to chat with your friendly system administrator back at the office. You can’t get very far into the configuration process without these two pre-requisites, so take care of these steps before grabbing your screwdriver to install the card…
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