Originally Posted by gfretwell
All that said, IBM decided there really wasn't much to be gained by it and removed the recommendation from our books.

Well, yah, if you try to build a network using RS-232 or using some sort of coax-cable signaling that relies on the shield being a common ground, you're pretty much toast if you have ground noise or ground differentials.

Modern signaling systems like Ethernet use coupling transformers with minimum 2000V isolation. Ethernet doesn't really care if you have ground problems. grin

I note that the guys at Xerox PARC found about a 90V ground differential between one end of the building and the other when they installed their first experimental Ethernet network. sick