[comp.os.vms] Terminal servers TCP/IP

eidem%regtek.unit.uninett@TOR.NTA.NO (Kjell Eidem) (01/12/88)

Connecting terminals to TCP/IP hosts via terminal servers.
Does anyone know about terminal servers running TCP/IP on 
Ethernet?            
At our site we have some Vax'es with VMS/Decnet and a couple   
of Microvax'es with Ultrix/Decnet/TCP/IP on a local Ethernet.
Decservers 100/200 and LAT software are used for terminal
handling.
We will now connect Sun workstations to this localnet, and the
question is if it is possible from some sort of terminal server
to connect the terminal to a Sun in the same way we can connect
to a Vax via a Decserver.
Comments to this are appreciated.

Kjell Eidem
Sintef Division of Automatic Control
Trondheim

Arpa: eidem%regtek.unit.uninett@tor.nta.no

==================

joe@cfa250.harvard.EDU (Joseph Schwarz) (01/14/88)

in article <133*eidem@regtek.unit.uninett>, eidem%regtek.unit.uninett@TOR.NTA.NO (Kjell Eidem) asks:
> 
> Connecting terminals to TCP/IP hosts via terminal servers.
> We will now connect Sun workstations to this localnet, and the
> question is if it is possible from some sort of terminal server
> to connect the terminal to a Sun in the same way we can connect
> to a Vax via a Decserver.

We have a net that includes Suns, Ultrix MicroVAXen and a VMS MicroVAX
running Wollongong's TCP/IP software.  We use a Bridge CS/100 Terminal
Server to connect terminals to all of these machines.  The speed isn't
blinding, and we sometimes get hangs that we've not been able to figure
out, but the thing basically works.  The firm's address is (or was, as of April
1986;  they've merged with 3COM since, but I don't know if that's
affected their whereabouts):

	Bridge Communications
	2081 Stierlin Road
	Mountain View, CA 94043
	(415) 969-4400
	

I also received an ad recently for the "Maxserver 5000", which claims to
provide "an integrated package for local and wide area networking and
TCP/IP connectivity" as well as (I think) LAT support.  I know *nothing*
about the reality or performance of this product.  The company is:

	Xyplex, Inc.
	100 Domino Drive
	Concord, MA 01742
	USA
	1-800-338-5316

Hope this is of use.

medin@titan.arpa (Milo S. Medin) (01/14/88)

With regards to TCP/IP terminal servers, we have lots of the Encore Annex
terminal servers here, and are very pleased with them.  They have a mini
Unix kernel running inside that allows them to use lots of BSD networking
code.  Thus their TCP is 4.3 based, and works quite well.  They have domain
name server support, support for reverse logins (ie milking machine type
of service), full loading and control over the network and all sorts
of good stuff.  They are very flexible and very well integrated into
the IP networking environment.  The people who work on product development
are also very capable and are always looking to add features.  Proteon
OEM's their boxes, so you should be able to get info from Encore (who
is in Mass.) or your local Proteon salesperson...

						Thanks,
						   Milo

klb@philabs.Philips.Com (Ken Bourque) (01/19/88)

Bridge Communications makes TCP/IP terminal servers - we use them and they work
well.  Mixing the network between DECnet and TCP is a bit of a pain, though.
The TCP-only machines (Bridge terminal servers and Suns (although you can get
DECnet for Suns)) can't talk directly to the DECnet only machines (VMS).  To
communicate you must go through a system that has both, which is workable but
not always convenient.  For example, on a DECnet-only machine, if you want to
transfer files to a TCP-only machine you have to log in to a TCP machine to run
FTP, since you can't do that on the DECnet machine.  Or, if you are on a
LAT terminal and want to log in to a Sun you must first log in to a VMS machine
(since Sun's can't handle LAT) and then use Telnet.  I strongly suggest that
you choose one of the protocols as your "mainstay" and implement it on every
machine (probably TCP because it runs on everything whereas DECnet and LAT
don't).  In that way you'll have a nice uniform method of going from one
machine to any other machine, and you won't have to educate people on the
special cases of going from one protocol to the other.

-- 
Ken Bourque    klb@philabs.philips.com    ...!{uunet,ihnp4,decvax}!philabs!klb

tihor@acf3.NYU.EDU (Stephen W. Tihor) (01/20/88)

The ultrix group has annouced that Ultrix 2.0 ff have a non-transparent
gateway (as an option) so that you can use an ultrix box running Decnet and
LAT to allow allusers to make connections form one world to another.

Relay-Version: version nyu B notes v1.5 12/10/84; site acf3.NYU.EDU
From: rosenblg@acf3.NYU.EDU (Gary J. Rosenblum)
Date: 19-Jan-88 12:53 EST
Date-Received: 19-Jan-88 12:53 EST
Subject: BOBCAT messages posted
Message-ID: <2220005@acf3.NYU.EDU>
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Newsgroups: nyu.general
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Organization: New York University

The two messages sent out by 'mamon@acf4' regarding BOBCAT
are erroneous.  They apply ONLY to acf4, and that is due
to a bug in acf4's telnet.  Please disregard the messages.

					Gary Rosenblum
					Unix Systems Manager