rbraun@spdcc.COM (Rich Braun) (01/30/91)
bob@reed.UUCP (Bob Ankeney) writes: > A few questions from a neophyte network person: > >1) Is there any problem running NFS using the 3Com cards or will we need > some other card? (We plan on giving the 3Com server a decent burial). 3Com is the most popular LAN card. Drivers are available from many sources, including the board vendors and TCP/IP and/or Novell network vendors. The 3C523 is not yet universally supported, but the 3C501/3C503/3C505 are. >2) From Unix, can we access the MSDOS files on the novell network? What > would be involved? I've been working on that problem myself. The answer is "sort of", for the time being. You can either wait until TCP/IP and NFS from Novell are no longer vaporware (Q3 of '91, at the earliest), or you can use the public-domain solution I've come up with: get the Brigham-Young packet drivers, CMU PC/IP, and Stan's Own Server. This is all available on sun.soe.clarkson.edu via anonymous FTP. However, I've encountered some bugs, and as of today I've fixed four bugs in the SOS source code. Stan no longer supports the code himself so I'm taking on the task. I'll make my modifications available to anyone else who has this same desire to mount Novell servers from the Unix client. Note that this solution requires a spare PC and probably won't perform particularly well compared with Novell's TCP/IP when it becomes available. Fortunately, it doesn't cost anything. >3) From the novell network can we access Unix files? You can buy Portable Netware from Interactive Systems to accomplish this. Or you can bring up TCP/IP on your DOS systems and use 'ftp' for file transfers to/from Unix, and put PC-NFS from Sun on top of that. Indeed, I'd prefer this myself: yank all the disks off the Novell servers, put them on Unix servers, bring up TCP/IP on all the DOS systems, and do away with Netware entirely: performance and reliability would be better. But, that can only be done if the Unix systems can provide the same level of software support for DOS users that the Novell network provides. At my company, that is not the case, at least for the time being. -rich
paul@actrix.gen.nz (Paul Gillingwater) (01/30/91)
In article <15956@reed.UUCP> bob@reed.UUCP (Bob Ankeney) writes: > 2) From Unix, can we access the MSDOS files on the novell network? What > would be involved? Portable Netware for UNIX. Several vendors have this now. But only IF the files sit on the server. I haven't seen any Novell clients for ANY UNIX. > 3) From the novell network can we access Unix files? Yup. Portable Netware. It's identical to Netware/386, except it won't support some of the multi-tasking stuff (because UNIX is inherently multi-tasking anyway). > These are questions we need to have more information about to decide > if we can switch to Unix (gawd, I hope so!). Make sure you get it from a vendor who knows what they are doing. -- Paul Gillingwater, paul@actrix.gen.nz
martino@logitek.co.uk (Martin O'Nions) (02/06/91)
paul@actrix.gen.nz (Paul Gillingwater) writes: >In article <15956@reed.UUCP> bob@reed.UUCP (Bob Ankeney) writes: >> 2) From Unix, can we access the MSDOS files on the novell network? What >> would be involved? >Portable Netware for UNIX. Several vendors have this now. But only >IF the files sit on the server. I haven't seen any Novell clients >for ANY UNIX. Requests for NetWare clients on Unix seem to meet with polite, but puzzled silences from Novell/OEMs alike. The latest versions of PNW do have the APIs necessary to implement a NetWare client available, but nobody seems to have taken the plunge so far. It should not prove too difficult to build a client through something like NFS's VNODE system, but I can't find anyone who'll commit to it. My recommendation is to keep shouting at the product manager in the OEM supplying PNW for your system - it may not work, but you get a lot of satisfaction out of it...... Martin -- DISCLAIMER: All My Own Work (Unless stated otherwise) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Martin O'Nions Logitek Group Support martino@logitek.co.uk -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auntie did you feel no pain / Falling from that willow tree? Could you do it, please again / 'Cos my friend here didn't see. (Harry Graham - Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes)
rbraun@spdcc.COM (Rich Braun) (02/10/91)
martino@logitek.co.uk (Martin O'Nions) writes: >>> 2) From Unix, can we access the MSDOS files on the novell network? What >>> would be involved? > >Requests for NetWare clients on Unix seem to meet with polite, but puzzled >silences from Novell/OEMs alike. The latest versions of PNW do have the >APIs necessary to implement a NetWare client ... > It should not prove too difficult to >build a client through something like NFS's VNODE system, but I can't find >anyone who'll commit to it. I'm doing my part to put some pressure on Novell product developers. So far, my beta test of SOS has gone very well, and about 30 people are participating. SOS provides an end run around the Novell Unix client problem, by setting up an intermediate DOS system capable of exporting network drives to NFS clients. It was created by Seemong Tan, stan@cs.uiuc.edu, from the Sun NFS sources. I am presently in the process of turning it into a commercially-useful product in the public domain. Running an SCO 386 Unix 3.2.2 system against a Netware 386 server, with SOS running on a third 386, I get 1.6 Mbytes/minute transfer rate when reading files from the Novell file system and about 1.0 Mb/min when writing. Those figures may improve as performance features are implemented. The Novell server's exported filesystems look to the Unix user just like any other NFS-mounted filesystem, with limitations like the 8.3-character DOS filename limit and such. If you would like to participate in the beta test, send me e-mail. -rich rbraun@spdcc.com
barr@frog.UUCP (Chris Barr) (02/10/91)
In article <martino.665838808@krypton>, martino@logitek.co.uk (Martin O'Nions) writes: > paul@actrix.gen.nz (Paul Gillingwater) writes: > > >In article <15956@reed.UUCP> bob@reed.UUCP (Bob Ankeney) writes: > >> 2) From Unix, can we access the MSDOS files on the novell network? What > >> would be involved? > > >Portable Netware for UNIX. Several vendors have this now. But only > >IF the files sit on the server. I haven't seen any Novell clients > >for ANY UNIX. > > Requests for NetWare clients on Unix seem to meet with polite, but puzzled > silences from Novell/OEMs alike. I know that Prime's EXL Unix lacks 'Client NetWare', but ISC has it. The glossy marketing sheet from Interactive Systems Corp on 'Interactive Ported NetWare' says, on side 1: Also Available in Client Version Ported NetWare is also available in a client version - INTERACTIVE Ported Client NetWare - which operates in conjunction with INTERACTIVE VP/Ix*. {this} allows INTERACTIVE Unix systems to operate as clients to NetWare servers, so UNIX users can access services, files, and applications on NetWare servers.