phil@mva.cs.liv.ac.uk (10/11/89)
A couple of weeks ago I asked if anyone had any info on the IPT personal network stuff, as an alternative to Tops. I promised to post a summary if I got any responses, so true to my word, here they are: >From : vita%com.ge.crd.disney@com.ge.crdgw1 >Pro's of PSN: > > * It does indeed adhere to AFP, which among other things means that you > will only need to purchase software for the Macs that want to serve > files (clients use standard AppleShare client software). > * It's cheaper (lists for $145 for a two-node license, compared to $249 > for a single-node TOPS license). > * No brain-damaged serial-number copy protection scheme. > * Consumes less memory than TOPS. > >Cons of PSN: > > * Installation is somewhat more complex than TOPS. Actually, installing > the software itself is not really more complicated (just drag a few > files over); it's running the administration program to establish user > ID's, groups, file permissions, etc. Of course, this is really due to > the nature of AppleShare itself. On the upside, you get a much richer > system of file security than you do with TOPS, and all the permissions > are visually integrated into the Finder. If you're in a hurry, you > could always do a "quickie" installation where you just set up one user > ID, and make all files available to that user ID (which is basically > analogous to what you get when you publish a TOPS volume). > > One other significant difference to note between PSN and TOPS. With > PSN, like AppleShare, the basic publishable entity is a volume. With > TOPS, it's a folder. With TOPS, if I have some folder on my disk that > I would like to make available, I can publish just that folder, and > the rest of the disk is not visible (i.e., a user mounting that entry > would see the folder contents as the top level). With PSN, you can > only publish on a volume by volume basis. A user mounting your disk > "sees" the entire volume. But of course, what the user can actually see > or change is strictly controlled by whatever files permissions you > have assigned. The bottom line is that you can get the same behavior > as described above with TOPS, but it requires a bit more thought. > > * Mac Pluses are currently not supported as servers. This is because of > the lack of certain ROM code in the Plus. I called IPT's tech support > and found that it is possible to get around this by installing the > "AppleTalk" system file and increasing the size of the system heap. > IPT doesn't officially support this, however, and they don't recommend > it for 1-meg machines. They said that do plan on supporting the Plus > in a future release. > > >PSN is available from: >Information Presentation Technologies, Inc. >23801 Calabasas Road, Suite 2008 >Calabasas, CA 91302 >(818) 347-7791 -------------------------------------------- From: Michael Peirce <claris!peirce@gov.nasa.arc.ames> >Although not a full Server able to mount volumes and such, I've written a >utility, Public Folder, that allows one to copy files from any other Mac >on the network. It's not a replacement for full AppleShare, but if simple >file copying is all you want to do, rather than open/read/write files, it >can do the job well. > >What it does is establish a folder on a Mac that is "Public" to the rest >of the network. Other people using Public Folder can look at the files >(and folders) there using a Chooser based UI. They can copy selected files >and folders onto their machine. The server Mac is unaware of this activity >(except there is a slight slowdown). > --------------------------------------------- From: urlichs <urlichs%de.uka.ira.smurf@net.cs.relay> >There is another background AppleShare server besides the IPT one. >It's cheaper, and faster, and ... and I am currently writing it. >It's in beta test right now, and due sometime next month. So it looks as though there's plenty of stuff to choose from - or there will be soon, and it looks like goodbye to Tops. I'm not sure whether IPT's PSN is available in the UK yet, so for the meantime, I've mailed Michael Pierce to try to get a copy of his stuff. Thanks to all those who responded. Phil Jimmieson, *************************************************** Computer Science Dept., * * Liverpool University, * JANET : PHIL@UK.AC.LIV.CS.MVA * PO Box 147 * ARPA : PHIL%mva.cs.liv.ac.uk@cunyvm.cuny.edu * Liverpool L69 3BX * * (UK) 051-794-3689 ***************************************************