info-3b2@lamc.UUCP (Info-3b2 Mailer) (02/10/89)
Info-3b2 Digest, Number 57 Friday, February 10th 1989 Today's Topics: Re: 3BNET & PC's ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hoptoad!quaduk!qukmips!lamc.UUCP!To:info-3b2 Date: Thu, 9 Feb 89 14:27:59 GMT Subject: Re: 3BNET & PC's I would have got this out faster, but UI have moved my mail to another machine and it has taken me a while to get Elm running properly (the problem turned out not to be Elm in fact but sendmail - solution junk sendmail and stick to smail) > > I'm getting ready to buy a 3BNET Ethernet card for our 3B2 to network with > several MS-DOS PC's, initially using TCP/IP, later NFS. I have a couple > of questions for those using the 3BNET stuff in this kind of environment. > > I'm assuming the 3BNET is thinwire (coax), is this right? > No, the 3BNET card comes out to a 15 pin D-type connector that needs to be plugged into a transceiver. If you are going to be using a large number of boards which require tranceivers, and if you can locate them close together then you will find it cheaper to buy a fan out unit which will has 8 D connectors for tranceiver drop cables and one D-connector for a drop cable to a tranceiver on the net. We run with a mixture of tranceivers and a fan out unit, but except for the machine room all the cabling is thinwire, we just use an adaptor on the tranceiver to drop down to the right size. > What exactly does the 3BNET software that I have to buy with > the card do for me? > > Sources for TCP/IP for the 3B2? (Wollongong, Lachman, etc.) > > Practical experiences, problems, successes, etc. are welcome. > With our cards, we originally got the NI driver and the Wollongong TCP/IP. Although we could get the NI drivers to talk to each other we were never able to get the TCP/IP to talk to anything else. Eventually after about two weeks of trying on our own we went back to Olivetti (who supply 3B's over here), who said "Well, it's working here", so we went down there and tried it, and lo and behold it failed to work there. Olivetti then made us a Beta site for SpiderTCP from Spider Systems. This replaced both the NI driver software and the TCP/IP. We loaded the disks, rebooted the machine et voila, immediately our 3B's were talking to everything else on the net. I can whole heartedly recommend this implementation, it worked first time and has continued to work, what more can you ask of a bit of software. Unfortunately, when I looked in the manual for details on where to find Spider Systems it just says to contact British Olivetti. In the United Kingdom Spider Systems are in Scotland (Edinburgh I think), but I don't know if they are anywhere else. If you want to know more and can't find them, and no one else know's (too many no's :-) ) where they are, mail me because there is an exhibiton coming up in a few weeks time which I think they will be at so I can go find them then. I hope this has been of some use. Graham -- Graham Glen Quadratron Systems (UK) Ltd. Voice: +44 1 371 5755 Fax: +44 1 736 1071 Telex: 267500 LIBORG G +44 836 380006 (mobile) {quad1,qnorth,qswiss,ukc,attunix!uel}!quaduk!graham ------------------------------------- To join this group or have your thoughts in the next issue, please send electronic mail to Ken Davis at the following address; {pacbell,netsys,hoptoad,well}!lamc!info-3b2-request The views expressed in Info-3b2 Digest are those of the individual authors only. ********************* End of Info-3b2 Digest *********************