clay@claris.UUCP (Clay A. Maeckel) (10/10/88)
In article <25288@bu-cs.BU.EDU> kwe@buit13.bu.edu (Kent England) writes: >In article <1238@umbc3.UMD.EDU> dipto@umbc3.umd.edu (Dipto Chakravarty) writes: >>I need some wisdom and/or recommendation on selecting a LAN that will >>be able to use the existing 4-conductor phone lines in the office as >>unshielded twisted pairs. > > Finally, there is Ethernet 10BaseT. It isn't a standard yet, >but it will be and it will work. It is very uncertain how well it >will work over all installations, but if you tailor your twisted pair >to minimize crosstalk, etc you will find that unshielded twisted pair >Ethernet will do the job very well. The nice thing about Ethernet is >that TCP/IP has been running on Ethernet for years and your protocol >problems are nonexistent. > At Claris we have been running quite nicely with 3Com's PairTamers. Just put this small box on each end of a single twisted-pair and you can run RG-58 coax out both boxes. We have run DECNet, TCP/IP, XNS, and AppleTalk across these guys. The ethernet part of our network is shaped somewhat like a star with 3Com's MultiConnect Repeater at the center, going to twisted pair, coming out with coax 150 to 300 feet away from the repeater, and chaining 1 to 4 Macs. We are also using 3Com Ethernet boards in our Macs. There was a problem of mixing Sun's and Mac's at the end of run, but putting the two Sun's at the end of their own run solved those problems. We don't have many PC's and none with Ethernet cards but the network should work just as well with those machines. BTW: what is Ethernet 10BaseT, is that the 2 twisted-pair (somewhat) standard? -- Clay Maeckel * UUCP: {ames,apple,portal,sun,voder}!claris!clay (I know nothing!) * Arpanet: claris!clay@ames.arc.nasa.gov Claris Corporation * AppleLink: Maeckel1 * CompuServe: 73057,255
jbvb@ftp.COM (James Van Bokkelen) (10/12/88)
One media Kent didn't mention is Starlan (IEE 10base1, I think). It uses 802.3 packet formats at a 1Mb data rate, and there are a number of PC network cards which support it (AT&T, MICOM-Interlan, Western Digital, Fox Research/DCA/10-Net). Since most of these cards are identical with their Ethernet version from a software point of view, many TCP/IP packages (and proprietary LAN OSs) will run transparently. There are also 10Mb <==> 1Mb bridges available from several vendors (Retix and CrossCom are two that I can remember off-hand). Another that is supposed to run on twisted pair is IBM's 4Mb Token Ring. This is also supported by a number of hardware vendors (IBM, 3Com and Proteon that I am sure of), and at least Netware and Vines will run on it. TCP/IP support is available from IBM and us (our PC/TCP). I've never used either on existing wire - presumably most of the standard caevats will apply; no routing near sources of electrical noise, not too many intermediate punch-down blocks, relatively short wire runs, relatively high-quality twsited pair to begin with (no tinsel). James VanBokkelen FTP Software Inc.
dave@westmark.UUCP (Dave Levenson) (10/12/88)
In article <25288@bu-cs.BU.EDU>, kwe@bu-cs.BU.EDU (kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent W. England)) writes: > In article <1238@umbc3.UMD.EDU> dipto@umbc3.umd.edu (Dipto Chakravarty) writes: ... > >We have a 80386 box running Unix System V.3.1. Now we want to network > >the system with 4-5 PC AT machines running DOS applications. ... > Have I neglected any options? You might consider AT&T Starlan. Available in both 1 and 10 Mbit for twisted-pair. Supports UNIX<->MS-DOS networks, Netbios, RFS, and such. -- Dave Levenson Westmark, Inc. The Man in the Mooney Warren, NJ USA {rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
mkd@mtunh.ATT.COM (Mark Darby) (10/12/88)
In article <375@ftp.COM>, jbvb@ftp.COM (James Van Bokkelen) writes: > One media Kent didn't mention is Starlan (IEE 10base1, I think). > It uses 802.3 packet formats at a 1Mb data rate, and there are a > number of PC network cards which support it (AT&T, MICOM-Interlan, > Western Digital, Fox Research/DCA/10-Net). Since most of these cards Just getting the name right, the correct IEEE type for 1Mb/s Starlan is 1BASE5. Mark K. Darby AT&T Bell Laboratories 200 Laurel Ave. Middletown, NJ 07748
les@chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell) (10/12/88)
In article <375@ftp.COM> jbvb@ftp.COM (James Van Bokkelen) writes: >One media Kent didn't mention is Starlan (IEE 10base1, I think). >It uses 802.3 packet formats at a 1Mb data rate, and there are a >number of PC network cards which support it (AT&T, MICOM-Interlan, >Western Digital, Fox Research/DCA/10-Net). Since most of these cards >are identical with their Ethernet version from a software point of view, >many TCP/IP packages (and proprietary LAN OSs) will run transparently. >There are also 10Mb <==> 1Mb bridges available from several vendors >(Retix and CrossCom are two that I can remember off-hand). I work with a starlan network of about 70 PC's, 7 3B2's and 7 3B1's using the (old) AT&T software. Much of the wiring uses existing phone line and new runs were installed using unshielded 8-wire twisted pair. In some cases an analog phone line takes up one of the pairs. We did find some runs of old cable that would not work but generally things worked well. One thing that makes starlan especially attractive is the ability (using the 1Mb rate) to daisy chain up to 10 units in a single run from the hub. We haven't tried any other protocols but are planning to switch to the new AT&T software that uses the OSI protocol in the near future. Bridges to 10Mb starlan and ethernet are available. Does anyone know what hardware/software could be connected across such a bridge? (We are running AT&T's RFS and netbios-emulating DOS server software on the starlan side). Les Mikesell