grutz@furp.lonestar.org (Kurt Grutzmacher) (10/28/90)
I have a simple question that somebody might be able to answer: Other than using a modem and dedicated telephone lines, is it possible to have a workstation login to a Novell network from over 150 miles away? Expense is no problem, so a T1 link option or leased line (there would be from about 6 to 10 workstations located about 150 miles away from the server) is okay. The server would be a normal IBM PS/2 running Novell or IBM's network (I don't know what they call it...). Please give a list of hardware needed, etc... The company already has quite a few IBM mainframes tied together via networking, but has not involved the PC LAN in this scheme (they're really scared of using PCs...). Any help would be grateful. Please email a reply or post, it doesn't matter, although a post would probably reach me better since the mail route is almost non-existant here.. :) grutz
hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) (10/29/90)
You need either a pair of bridges or Novell routers. They must be connected by some sort of communication facility. With 150 miles between them this is almost certainly a leased line of some sort. The common speeds are 56Kbps or T1 (1.5Mbps), though some vendors now support intermediate speeds, using something called "fractional T1". With fractional T1, you still need a full T1 line between your facilities and the facilities of the long distance vendor, but you'd only pay for the bandwidth you need from the long-distance carrier between the two cities. What speed line you get is entirely a matter of what you need and how much the lines cost. I believe you can get software from Novell that will allow you to use a PC as a Novell router. You'd need a PC controller card that can handle the type of line you decide to use. A Novell reseller should be able to advise you on appropriate types of card. You can also use a multi-protocol router such as cisco's. This has the advantage that it can also handle TCP/IP, DECnet, ISO, etc. (Under 8.2 it will also be able to carry IBM SDLC traffic, I believe.) Basically the pieces you need are the router, the phone line, and a DSU/CSU, which is a unit that connects the phone line to digital equipment. (It's the equivalent of a modem, but for high-speed leased lines.) The detailed specs for the DSU/CSU will depend upon the speed and type of the line. Generally you should first decide what type of router you are going to use and what line speed, and let the router vendor (which would be the Novell reseller if you use a Novell PC as the router) tell you what kind of DSU/CSU to use.
louie@cellar.bae.bellcore.com (Paul Louie) (11/02/90)
In article <u9wPR1w163w@furp.lonestar.org> grutz@furp.lonestar.org (Kurt Grutzmacher) writes: >I have a simple question that somebody might be able to answer: > >Other than using a modem and dedicated telephone lines, is it possible to >have a workstation login to a Novell network from over 150 miles away? >Expense is no problem, so a T1 link option or leased line (there would be >from about 6 to 10 workstations located about 150 miles away from the server) >is okay. > >The server would be a normal IBM PS/2 running Novell or IBM's network (I don't >know what they call it...). Please give a list of hardware needed, etc... The >company already has quite a few IBM mainframes tied together via networking, >but has not involved the PC LAN in this scheme (they're really scared of using >PCs...). We all wish we are as lucky as you - doing a job w/o worrying about the cost. I can tell you two methods, and the one that applies depends on the performance criteria (you didn't mention performance). 1. Cheap, but slow: You can set up an async comm server by having an pc on the lan fitted with a Hayes compatible MODEM. A remote control software is installed here and the remote PC (PC-Anywhere or Carbon Copy). Once the MODEMs sync-up the remote user takes full control of the LAN connect local PC. The fileserver would never know that the user is hundreds or thousands of miles away. The response time (most practical to an end user is the screen refresh rate) is about 4-6 seconds, even with a pair of 9600 compression MODEMS that produce a claimed 19,200 bps throughput. This is the fastest MODEMs available for async comm. 2. Expensive solution: Install an X.25 Bridge from Eicon. It can be config to run in Protected Mode (using extended memory) in any 286/386 PC, thus leaving a full 640K for the Netware Shell (NET3) and user application. It can support sub-T1 speed of up to 115,000bps in full duplex synchronous mode. It is definitely good enough for a single remote user. We use it to hook up sizable LANs with this setup. You should give the outfit, PDS, a call. They implement both of these setup for us and they run great. (201) 866-4898. They do contract work around this Country and Canada.
lws@comm.wang.com (Lyle Seaman) (11/06/90)
louie@cellar.bae.bellcore.com (Paul Louie) writes about two solutions.
There is another, available from NOVELL. They sell a product called
OnLAN, which runs a proxy session for the remote user on a dedicated
PC on the LAN. The only thing that goes over the modem is keyboard
input and monitor output (screen data). With 9600 baud modems, this
is pretty fast. I think 4-6 seconds refresh time overstates things.
--
Lyle Wang lws@comm.wang.com
508 967 2322 Lowell, MA, USA uunet!comm.wang.com!lws
The scum always rises to the top.keith@ca.excelan.com (Keith Brown) (11/14/90)
In article <1990Nov5.182831.23978@comm.wang.com> lws@comm.wang.com (Lyle Seaman) writes: >louie@cellar.bae.bellcore.com (Paul Louie) writes about two solutions. >There is another, available from NOVELL. They sell a product called >OnLAN, which runs a proxy session for the remote user on a dedicated >PC on the LAN. Almost... OnLAN is actually just a part of a product we call the Access Server. This is a software product that runs on a dedicated 80386 PC and utilises the 386 chips ability to support multiple virtual 8086 processors. Essentially it transforms a single 386 PC in to 15 virtual 8086 PC's which can be dialled in to from remote locations. As the virtual PC is local to the LAN site, none of the normal client<->server traffic needs to traverse the async connection (usually a modem link but conceivably it could be any kind of serial connection, including a line from an X.25 PAD etc....). As Lyle points out, only the processor->screen and keyboard->processor traffic traverse the phone line. Each of the virtual PC's can act as a standard NetWare client workstation to any servers you may have on the LAN. You can dial in to an Access Server from virtually anything, including simple terminals such as a DEC VT100. As long as you only want to run character orientated applications the Access Server will map the applications screen accesses to terminal control codes to paint your screen. If you have something a little more sophisticated such as a PC or Macintosh, the Access Server can support all the way up to VGA graphics across the async connection. OnLAN is actually the "client" piece of the product that you run on your PC or Mac when you dial in to the Access Server. The rule is that the graphics equipment in the Access Server machine must be greater than or equal to the graphics capabilities of the machines that dial in to it (to use those graphics). In reality, we recommend you use the minimum graphics configuration required to get the job done. This is *not* a tool for running flight simulator from 150 miles away :-) The more pixels that must traverse the async line, the slower things will run. In terms of hardware on which to run the Access Server, you need a 386 PC with at least 4 megabytes of memory. You actually need 1000+(n*750) meg, where n is the number of virtual DOS PC's your liable to have on the go concurrently. I'd recommend the processor has plenty of megahertz too. The more megahertz the merrier! Don't worry about anything too special in the disk department though as the idea is that the virtual PC's use a NetWare server for disk access. They don't (and indeed can't) use the hard disk thats physically bolted on to the Access Server itself. You need intelligent async cards to provide the serial connections themselves and currently the only supported board is our own 4 port card known effectionately as the "WNIM". Supporting other async cards is on the list of todo's and please feel free to call in your votes for exactly which cards we should support to Steve Goodman on 408 747 4124. Should anyone be feeling energetic enough to set about writing a driver for a new async card there is now a development kit available, details of which can also be obtained from Steve. Finally, you need a LAN adaptor of some description. This can be any LAN adaptor for which there is an IPX.OBJ linkable driver with one notable exception.... *YOU CAN'T USE A PACKET DRIVER*. If PD's were implemented as device drivers that were loadable from config.sys then you would be able to, but they aren't so you can't.... I'd be interested in hearing from anybody who may have converted a packetdriver.exe in to a packetdriver.sys. Especially if it's for an NE2000! Keith ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keith Brown Phone: (408) 473 8308 Novell San Jose Development Centre Fax: (408) 433 0775 San Jose, California 95131 Net: keith@novell.COM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------