AGO@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (11/02/90)
I'm currently planning a LAN for the Electronics Department
at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The media is going
to be Ethernet, and the protocols will be TCP/IP and NFS.
As we have to support a vriety of machines, things start to
get hairy. The platforms to be supported in a first phase are
Macs, PCs, UNIX workstations, and Apple LaserWriters.
Now, how do you get all these bozos to talk to each other? I
suppose a lot of people had to deal with a similar problem,
so I don't want to reinvent the wheel. Although searching quite
intenseley, I wasn't able to find write-ups addressing the
different facets of the problem. As I suppose that this subject
interests a certain number of people, I describe the solutions
I'm thinking about, and would like to hear comments/suggestions/
caveats, etc. I will post a summary under comp.dcom.lans as soon
as a compilation is done. Of course, you can post your comments
also directly on the net if you think a larger amount of people
can directly take advantage of them.
The number of machines on the net will be around 50-100, with
a majority being PCs. During the first phase, only one file server
(SparcStation) will be installed. The Macs will be running Pathway
NFS client from Wollongong, and the PCs PC-NFS (or maybe a similar
product from Wollongong or ftp software). On the Mac, TN3270 will
be used for remote mainframe logon; no product has been identified
yet on the PC side.
Printing seems to be more of a problem. We'd like to attach the
printer(s) directly to the net, not to a server. As the interface on
the printer side is LocalTalk, a converter is needed. Moreover, the
PCs and Suns don't speak PAP (the Apple Printing Protocol), and some
of their output is non-PostScript. How to access the printer? One
solution seems to be the Cayman GatorBox running GatorPrint. With
the lpr feature of the NFS client packages, it should be possible
to access the printer(s) through the GatorBox. Only disadvantage:
LocalTalk cables have to be run to the printer(s). Another solution
seems to be to run a few software packages on the server (CAP,
Transript and UAB), but this looks much less straightforward and
prone to failure.
Comments would be appreciated in the following areas:
- Do you see a problem with this scheme? Any better solutions?
- Has anybody used Wollongong's PathWay Client NFS for Mac? Experience?
- What about alternatives to PC-NFS? Has anybody used WIN/TCP for
DOS, PathWay Client NFS for DOS (Wollongong), PC/TCP (ftp software),
or similar packages?
- What about the coexistence of the packages with Windows 3.0?
- Printer access through these packages (+ GatorBox)?
- Recommendations for Ethernet cards for Mac and PC?
- Experience with the GatorBox and GatorPrint?
Well, I hope this starts some interesting discussions on the net.
I'm looking forward to hearing different opinions, so feel free
to contact me. Posting of a summary will be done as soon as
possible under comp.dcom.lans, as mentioned before.
Romain C. Agostini
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this document are
my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of SLAC or Stanford
University.