lui@CS.UCLA.EDU (04/12/88)
We are connecting our VAXes to our Macintoshes through the very popular
Kinetics FastPath gateway box. I'm comparing the two popular software
packages made by Alisa Systems and Pacer. We have a cluster of an 11/780
and an 8350, plus a LPS-40 Laser Printer.
Does anyone have any comments about either system? The LPS-40 is an
ethernet based printer; one of our main objectives is to make this
printer available to our Macintoshes.
Stephen Lui
UCLA Department of Computer Science and
System Manager
Hughes Aircraft Company
Radar Systems Group
Physical Address:
Centinela Ave. & Teale St.
Culver City, CA.
(213) 305-2085
Mailing Address:
Hughes Aircraft Company
M/S RC R49 2563
P.O. Box 92426
Los Angeles, CA
90009-2426
ARPA: lui@cs.ucla.edu
UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!lui
Stephen Lui
ARPA: lui@cs.ucla.edu
UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!luibmh@demon.siemens-rtl (Beatrice M Hwong) (04/12/88)
In article <11134@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> lui@CS.UCLA.EDU (Stephen Lui) writes: >We are connecting our VAXes to our Macintoshes through the very popular >Kinetics FastPath gateway box. I'm comparing the two popular software >packages made by Alisa Systems and Pacer. We have a cluster of an 11/780 >and an 8350, plus a LPS-40 Laser Printer. > >Does anyone have any comments about either system? The LPS-40 is an >ethernet based printer; one of our main objectives is to make this >printer available to our Macintoshes. > > Please post the results. I think it is of general interest to all who are concerned with Mac-VAX connectivity. Beatrice M. Hwong Siemens RTL 105 College Rd E. Princeton, N.J. 08540 609-734-3384 bmh%demon.siemens.com@princeton.edu
garrett@udel.EDU (Joel Garrett) (04/13/88)
In article <11134@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> lui@CS.UCLA.EDU (Stephen Lui) writes: >We are connecting our VAXes to our Macintoshes through the very popular >Kinetics FastPath gateway box. I'm comparing the two popular software >packages made by Alisa Systems and Pacer. I'm in the process of doing the same thing for my employer. >Does anyone have any comments about either system? I've only had a chance to dig into AlisaTalk so far, as I am still waiting for a PacerShare beta tape (yes, it's an announced product, but it's still in beta, I guess that's come to be the norm) I ran into a few problems getting both packages to run at first (partially due to incomplete installation instructions, partially due to voodoo system problems) One note to users of Wollongong WIN/TCP who want to get AlisaTalk or PacerLink: If you are using the dedicated DEUNA driver for WIN/TCP, you're going to need to call Wollongong and tell them you need to use the shared DEUNA/DEQNA driver. This isn't a big deal, all you need to do is get a new key from TWG, which they'll read you over the phone, and then re-link the inet stuff to include the shared DEUNA driver. After this, just edit your startinet.com file and the syconfig.com file and you're all set - For the dedicated deuna driver, sysgen leaves out the XE driver while autoconfiguring the system at boot time and both AlisaTalk and PacerLink need this. Before I got this driver change from Wollongong, I tried installing AlisaTalk with WIN/TCP not running. For some reason the appletalk/vms bridge process was unable to get the deuna's ethernet address and therefore was responding to AppleTalk ARPs by saying "My ethernet address is FF.FF.FF.FF.FF.FF," which is an ethernet broadcast address - not good. This caused on the order of about 10-20 ethernet broadcast packets per second to flood the net while I was using the AlisaTalk file server. Once I had the shared DEUNA WIN/TCP up and running this problem mysteriously went away. Both Alisa and Pacer provide printer spooling software that takes advantage of VMS queuing services, AlisaPrint and PacerPrint. Alisa also provides a DEC printing package that will allow Mac users to access the LPS-40 and the LN03-R. I haven't dug much into that package, as we don't have any DEC printers at our site. I do know that the LPS-40 supports most of the things that a LaserWriter can do (not including smoothing though, apple handles that with 68000 code embedded in the postscript - or so I hear) The one big difference I see between the two printing systems is how they handle LaserWriters or other LocalTalk-connected printers. AlisaPrint allows you to leave your printers out on the LocalTalk net where they can still be accessible to Mac users if the VAX should crash or have to be shut down for PM, etc. PacerPrint requires that the LaserWriters be connected directly to the VAX with serial connections. Granted, this solution probably yields the best performance, but you lose a little flexibility in where you can connect your printers. As far as overall performance is concerned, Alisa's stuff seems to be a little slower than Pacer's (all results aren't in, this test isn't complete) which might be attributed to the way they implement their system, which appears more flexible. That's about all I've gotten so far - once AppleShare compatiblity is available for both systems which should be in the near future (but how near? :-) the file servers for both systems will be greatly improved. Joel Garrett Research Associate CCM University of Delaware Newark, De 19716 garrett@udel-ccm.arpa
bmh@demon.siemens-rtl (Beatrice M Hwong) (04/14/88)
In article <2044@louie.udel.EDU> garrett@udel.EDU (Joel Garrett) writes: >In article <11134@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> lui@CS.UCLA.EDU (Stephen Lui) writes: >>We are connecting our VAXes to our Macintoshes through the very popular >>Kinetics FastPath gateway box. I'm comparing the two popular software >>packages made by Alisa Systems and Pacer. > > >>Does anyone have any comments about either system? > > >As far as overall performance is concerned, Alisa's stuff seems to be a >little slower than Pacer's (all results aren't in, this test isn't complete) >which might be attributed to the way they implement their system, which >appears more flexible. There is a comparison of AlisaTalk, PacerShare, and CommUnity in Digital Review (February 8, 1988) on p70. The comparisons show that the Pacer is either equal or faster than the other two using either EtherTalk or FastPath. A disadvantage of Alisa is that it does not maintain HFS. Experience here has been with PacerLink which needed a couple of minor revisions before it was working as promised. Our PacerLink ties Ultrix on a Vax8600 to Appletalk. Beatrice M. Hwong Siemens RTL 105 College Rd E Princeton, N.J. 08540 609-734-3384 bmh%demon.siemens.com@princeton.edu