stv@qvax2.UUCP (Steve Vance@ex2499) (12/05/89)
As you can see by my title, this is a rather elementary question. If
this has been covered before in this newsgroup: sorry, I missed it.
I have two AT clones. I want to write a program on one that can
randomly access a database on the other. I have several programs that
purport to be "NETBIOS compatible" and/or say that they support record
locking so that they can be used on networked PCs. For example: Q & A.
The most popular networking system appears to be Novell. With Novell,
it seems that the disk drive that has the database on it appears as a
pseudo-drive (say, "Z:") on the other machine. I can run Q&A on both
machines, and tell the one without the database that the database is on
that "Z:" drive.
So, I buy a couple of Ethernet or Arcnet cards and some coax, and a
Novell Netware starter package. Wow! I'm out about $2000!!! That's
not exactly what I want. TOPS and Banyan Vines are, I think, just as
pricey.
I don't need speed. A 9600 baud serial link would be fine. Bare
minimum, I could write:
1. a "daemon"-type program to run on the AT that has the
database on it, that just listens on COM1 for database
access requests, and
2. a driver for the other AT that accepts database requests
from the other program and sends them out COM1.
Like I say, I could write this code, but I get the feeling that I would
be re-inventing the wheel.
Okay, here's an "EasyLAN Starter Kit" for $219 (retail). [ This is from
PC Magazine Vol 6 Nbr 12, June 87, so I'm not sure they're in business
anymore, but I've seen other such systems recently.] EasyLAN uses a
serial port on each machine, and includes a 30-foot, five-wire cable.
It says: "Supports the NETBIOS interface." For the money, I get the
cable, two manuals, and two sets of software. Will this be all that I
need? Based on the PC Mag article and the calls I made to the EasyLAN
people a few months ago, I don't think so.
It doesn't appear that it get the "Z:" drive, so I can't tell Q&A that
the database is on the other machine. It looks like I still have to
write some driver code. I don't think it tells how to do this in the
EasyLAN manual, which assumes I know how to make NETBIOS calls. Which
I don't. Do I still have to buy a copy of NETBIOS, too? Where is it
for sale? Egghead Software, maybe?
Or, forget NETBIOS. How about a NCSA Telnet plus SLIP (both Public
Domain/shareware or some such?)? Are these easy to interface with?
Or, how about dumb terminal emulation on the AT without the database,
and a program that provides COMMAND.COM access on the database AT?
I'm not even sure what questions I should be asking you here. Are
there any good books about "how to write programs for networked PCs"?
Books on NETBIOS? Someone guessed that RFC-1001 would be helpful.
Where do I get copies of RFCs? I guess my bottom-line question is:
has anybody solved the problem I've described above FOR UNDER $500?
If so, please post or email me your suggestions.
--
Steve Vance
{hplabs,lll-winken,pacbell}!qantel!stv
qantel!stv@lll-winken.llnl.gov
Qantel Business Computers, Hayward, CApaul@csnz.co.nz (Paul Gillingwater) (12/13/89)
In article <631@qvax2.UUCP> stv@qantel.UUCP (Steve Vance@ex2499) writes: >I have two AT clones. I want to write a program on one that can >randomly access a database on the other. I have several programs that >purport to be "NETBIOS compatible" and/or say that they support record >locking so that they can be used on networked PCs. For example: Q & A. >has anybody solved the problem I've described above FOR UNDER $500? I solved this problem for myself by buying a product called Lantastic. It's a peer-to-peer local area network that provides full remote file access and record locking, and is nearly 100% Netbios compatible. Retail price should be well under US$500, including all software, cables, interface cards, manual etc. I got mine for around US$360. Just a satisfied customer. -- Paul Gillingwater, Computer Sciences of New Zealand Limited Domain: paul@csnz.co.nz Bang: uunet!vuwcomp!dsiramd!csnz!paul Call Magic Tower BBS V21/23/22/22bis 24 hrs NZ+64 4 767 326 SpringBoard BBS for Greenies! V22/22bis/HST NZ+64 4 896 016