SITTERUD%PLU@AMES-IO.ARPA (10/28/86)
I promised to post the results of my investigations re. terminal servers. I was not overwhelmed with responses, and received no input re- garding the functionality/usefulness of the Able or Xyplex systems. Com- ments regarding DEC terminal servers were of the type: "it works fine", "no problems". I detected much more enthusiasm regarding the Bridge and Encore systems. DEC - understood by DEC OS's only, via Ethernet connection with DEC hosts running LAT protocol, interfaces with non-DEC hosts via direct lines into that host's ports. Does not really put a noticeable load on the Ethernet, LAT doesn't affect system performance noticeably. There has been a variety of discussions re. LAT on the info-vax. Does not implement TCP/IP ABLE - Requires a Unibus connection to talk to a host, otherwise connection ATTACH is directly via RS232 to that host's ports. It's a standalone system. Supports a Centronics Parallel port. The system is geared to DEC hardware. BRIDGE- Connects to Ethernet CS 100 Does Routing. Can be standalone. Implements TCP/IP. The user interface is not well designed in that it's commands are a combination of Kermit style (connect) and TCP/IP. Boots off of floppies, which can be a hassle. Might provide a 30 day loan for evaluation. Does not supports a Centronics Parallel port. CS 200 Upgraded CS 100 Boot from network control server Connect to Ethernet, Implements TCP/IP. Does not support a Centronics Parallel port. ENCORE- Implements a good Unix style design. ANNEX Boots off of any Unix server and supports telephone style interconnects, which is helpful for wire management. Has 9 pin connectors instead of RS232. 4.3 BSD Networking code, watchdog which reboots the terminal server in case of software failure. When user runs emacs (unix type editor), Annex software offloads the host for refresh and windowing, approximately 70% of the process CPU time. Implements TCP/IP. Boots off a host on the network, doesn't use floppies to boot. Supports a Centronics Parallel port. Xyplex Front ends a VMS system. Connection with foriegn host is via a cluster controller to RS232 ports in host. Can connect to Ethernet via transceiver and fan out units. This product seems to be geared to an IBM PC/IBM/DEC environment. Provides IBM protocol translation for terminal connections to mainframe. Fantastic 4 Color Ad Supports a Centronics Parallel Anne Sitterud System Manager NASA Ames Research Center MS 244-7 Moffett Field, CA 94035 sitterud%plu@ames-io [standard disclaimer]