[net.micro.pc] Network Virtual Disk Query

pam@Purdue.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP (10/12/83)

From:  Paul McNabb <pam@Purdue.ARPA>

I have been given $20K to purchase 3 IBM PCs.  This money must cover
all equipment, software, maintenance, etc.  After talking around I
have found that people wouldn't really mind having shared resources
(e.g. hard disk) so I have been mulling over the idea of some sort of
network where I don't have to buy 3 hard disks (large databases are
part of the project).

My questions are:

1) Are there any reliable networking boards available now for the PC
and what are their costs?  Are they easy to install?  Do they require
a lot of modifications to the OS (I get to pick that too).

2) If we buy canned software are there any legal problems with running
on three different machines or making copies of the software for
internal use?

3) Many of the uses may be intelligent non-hackers.  Is this going to
be a pain for them to use or do these networks take a long time and
lots of practice to learn how to use?

Thanks.
Paul McNabb (pam@purdue)

skip@gatech.UUCP (10/18/83)

I think this is of general interest so I'll go ahead and bother everyone
about it.  I recently used an IBM PC with the 3Com Ethernet boards plugged
in and a file server (Altos) attached to the Ethernet as well.  While it
didn't work as smoothly as, say, a Xerox Star workstation; it did what
it was supposed to do with very little fuss.  An example:

	A>es logon skip pword   /* optionally you can specify which of
	                            several file servers to logon to     */
	A>es link c: general    /* make virtual drive labelled "general"
	                            respond as device c:                 */
	A>c:
	C>es link f: inbox      /* "inbox" is where your mail resides    */
	C>lotus
	...
	C>a:
	A>es logoff             /* disconnect from the disk server       */

I am waiting however, to buy a board from Ungermann-Bass when they come
out at the first of next year.  The boards will not only have at least the
capability of the 3Com, but also the ability to make use of the other 
network services we're providing around the Georgia Tech campus, such as
X.25 gateways, access into almost every host on campus, electronic mail,
etc.

One note about your particular application.  With only three PC's, you
might very well find that's it's cheaper to put a hard disk at every
workstation unless there is a lot of sharing of files, etc.

-- Skip Addison, Georgia Tech Office of Telecommunications and Networking
   {allegra,emory}!gatech!skip  <- I've got to find a more robust path!