[comp.dcom.lans] NFS availability on IBM/RT

jeff@ndcheg.UUCP (Jeff Kantor) (07/11/87)

We have a number of Sun's running here making extensive use of NFS.  Now
a few others having IBM/RT's (the new model) would like to share in the
net and would like to get a version of NFS working on their machines under
4.2bsd.  Is there a version of NFS available for the RTs?

The IBM sales rep tells us that Brown has such a thing, but that something
called an NFS Source License is required to obtain this.  The Sun sales
rep says this would cost $1K per node which sounds too expensive.  Moreover,
the Brown Univ. code only works on the old version of the RT.  I would like
to hear from anyone who might have experience going this route.

Jeffrey C. Kantor
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of Notre Dame

uucp:   iuvax!ndmath!ndcheg!jeffrey!jeff
 

melohn%sluggo@Sun.COM (Bill Melohn) (07/13/87)

In article <236@ndcheg.UUCP> jeff@ndcheg.UUCP (Jeff Kantor) writes:
>The IBM sales rep tells us that Brown has such a thing, but that something
>called an NFS Source License is required to obtain this.  The Sun sales
>rep says this would cost $1K per node which sounds too expensive.  Moreover,
>the Brown Univ. code only works on the old version of the RT.  I would like
>to hear from anyone who might have experience going this route.

I don't understand how the sales forces of IBM, DEC, et al can get away
with such misinformation. The University NFSSRC License is $1000/SITE
for unlimited use on the licensed campus.  Universities may share their
work derived from licensed source only to other universities which are
licensed.  I'm pretty sure that the Brown RT implementation falls into
this category.  There is, of course, no fee payable to Sun for
distribution of public domain implementations.

dml@rabbit1.UUCP (David Langdon) (07/17/87)

 In article <236@ndcheg.UUCP> jeff@ndcheg.UUCP (Jeff Kantor) writes:
>The IBM sales rep tells us that Brown has such a thing, but that something
>called an NFS Source License is required to obtain this.  The Sun sales
>rep says this would cost $1K per node which sounds too expensive.  Moreover,
>the Brown Univ. code only works on the old version of the RT.  I would like
>to hear from anyone who might have experience going this route.

Not sure about this stuff, but under the commercial UN*X implementation
(i.e. AIX), IBM has another product called distributed services which provides
some minimal NFS-like support. This product allows you, via an Ethernet/PC-Net
link between machines, to mount file systems resident on other machines. For
more info you are probably better off calling your IBM rep. If you are using
the ACIS UN*X, don't know.

Good luck...
-- 
David Langdon    Rabbit Software Corp.
(215) 647-0440   7 Great Valley Parkway East  Malvern PA 19355

...!ihnp4!{cbmvax,cuuxb}!hutch!dml        ...!psuvax1!burdvax!hutch!dml

mjr@osiris.UUCP (Marcus Ranum) (07/21/87)

In article <336@rabbit1.UUCP>, dml@rabbit1.UUCP (David Langdon) writes:
}>The IBM sales rep tells us that Brown has such a thing, but that something
}>called an NFS Source License is required to obtain this.  The Sun sales
}>rep says this would cost $1K per node which sounds too expensive.  Moreover,
}>the Brown Univ. code only works on the old version of the RT.  I would like
}>to hear from anyone who might have experience going this route.
} 
}Not sure about this stuff, but under the commercial UN*X implementation
}(i.e. AIX), IBM has another product called distributed services which provides
}some minimal NFS-like support. This product allows you, via an Ethernet/PC-Net
}link between machines, to mount file systems resident on other machines. For
}more info you are probably better off calling your IBM rep. If you are using
}the ACIS UN*X, don't know.

	Typically, IBM has produced a machine that costs as much as a more
"mainstream" machine (like a Sun), has none of it's advantages (Like NFS,
or a consistent port of UN*X), and only talks to other IBMs.

	No doubt, if you throw enough money at the problem (IBM likes that)
you can get ALMOST the functionality of a Sun II  :-). Of course, the other
route is to bust your a** and write the software yourself, like Brown did,
and then by the time it's finished, the hardware will be hopelessly out of
date, as usual.

--mjr();
-- 
If they think you're crude, go technical; if they think you're technical,
go crude. I'm a very technical boy. So I get as crude as possible. These
days, though, you have to be pretty technical before you can even aspire
to crudeness...			         -Johnny Mnemonic