SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS.BITNET (09/15/86)
Hello everybody, We have an 8600 and 6 MicroVAX-II's running on our Ethernet. Due to high demand for Ethernet lines, we are considering using non-DEC 16-line terminal servers (their own 16-line servers are outrageous and we don't have enough places on the coax to keep using 8-line servers). However, we are having difficulty finding out what is available, i.e. who makes them, what the cost is, software/firmware features, and how reliable they are. Our terminals are mostly DEC (VT100,101,220,240, and Gigi) but there are also some emulators around. We would like to be very sure that a third-party server would be able to handle all these different types. We have noticed that some of the emulators/clones don't like various hardware/microcode revs. in the DECserver 100's, and that others don't like particular ports on a particular server (where a DEC terminal will work fine - apparently less sensitive to voltage output levels). If anyone has any suggestions/experience in this regard, I would appreciate hearing from you (directly so as not to clog up the network lines - the eternal optimist). If any answers are particularly useful to me, I will put them on the info-vax list since others may also find them useful. Unless, of course, there are restrictions about "publicity" for third-party vendors (any information on this would also be welcome). Thanks in advance. Ruth Milner VAX Systems Manager Physics/Astronomy/CITA VAX Consortium University of Toronto network address: SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS (BITNET) P.S. Our other alternative, of course, is putting another DELNI on the Ethernet and connecting 8-line servers to that. However there are some floors that won't be reachable in this manner (cumulative cable lengths too great).
egisin%watmath.waterloo.edu@RELAY.CS.NET (Eric Gisin) (09/20/86)
What protocol to DEC ethernet terminal servers use? Is it DEC's or is it a public standard?
dp@JASPER.Palladian.COM (Jeffrey Del Papa) (09/24/86)
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 86 11:01:17 edt
From: Eric Gisin <egisin%watmath.waterloo.edu@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
What protocol to DEC ethernet terminal servers use?
Is it DEC's or is it a public standard?
the protocol is dec's own. There is a (supposedly) public document describing it for others to
implement. I have hear of an available (tho not sure how directly) document describing the innards of the
box if you want to roll your own server...
<dp>