From:	Robert Watkins <bob@**.NTU.EDU.AU>
Subject:	Re: What goes through barriers?
Date:	Sat, 3 Jun 1995 01:17:41 +0930

Stefan Struck wrote:
> I want to ask your opinion about barrier IC. What goes through and what
> does not. Until now I though normal data goes through but deckers does
> not, after re-reading the matrix passage in the big black book I'm not
> sure if it's right.

Barrier IC let's absolutely NOTHING through, unless it has a passcode. As
you don't usually want passcodes floating around on data streams, you don't
let them through, normally.

> I don't have the book here now so I can't quote the passage but I said
> that barrier is used for nodes where normally no dataflow is present.
> How do you use barriers/access. It seem to me that you're finally using
> access all the time and barrier almost never.

Basically, yeah... But, for example, on a system without much traffic into
it, you might use Barrier IC. Or a really crucial data store might have
Barrier IC so that only authorised users can get stuff in and out.

--
Robert Watkins bob@**.ntu.edu.au
Real Programmers never work 9 to 5. If any real programmers
are around at 9 am, it's because they were up all night.
*** Finger me for my geek code ***