>I would use the VIA C3's with the Intel NICS for troubleshooting since they 
>should be fine.  I don't know about Realtek stability.  Some of my 
>m0n0wall/Linux/*BSD problems I have been able to trace to NIC driver 
>issues, and Intel should be stable.
>
> Do you use something to thoroughly test your systems before production?  I 
> use "The Ultimate Boot CD" and run Memory and CPU tests on systems to 
> verify integrity.  The only regular freezes I have ever experienced in 
> m0n0wall or FreeBSD (5 or 6) have been on systems that had small but 
> detectable hardware issues, often memory type or timing issues, sometimes 
> CPU clock/overclock problems.

The Intel NIC boxes are the ones I'm getting ready for more testing right
now.  I also assumed the Realtek NICs were the source of my problems but
alas they run fine in other installations (less load though, so...).

And unfortunately I never did test anything right before production.  I made
the mistake of assuming "brand new" meant would work well right out of the
box.  I have since learned that lesson and downloaded the Ultimate Boot CD
last week.  I have not had a chance to work with it, but today this stuff
its taking priority.


Aaron