scott@scirtp.UUCP (Scott Crenshaw) (02/10/88)
I'd appreciate any information you can give me concerning
TCP/IP-NETBIOS. Thanks very much.
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Scott Crenshaw {akgua,decvax}!mcnc!rti-sel!scirtp!scott
SCI Systems , Inc. Research Triangle Park, NC JBVB@AI.AI.MIT.EDU ("James B. VanBokkelen") (02/12/88)
The details of the protocol are in RFCs 1001 and 1002. There is a write-up of the history of NETBIOS and its implementation over TCP/IP in the most recent issue of the Connexions newsletter (from Advanced Computing Environments), written by John Romkey. Basically, what it is is the use of TCP and UDP to transport data between pairs of programs which make Int 5C calls on PCs, or something similar (but not yet standardized) on non-DOS systems. The programs that call Int 5C are either LAN programs (like Microsoft Networks or the IBM PC LAN Program), which redirect the DOS filesystem via the network, or applications like central SNA gateways, or shared databases where a more user-level application makes the calls. The TCP is just substituting for proprietary protocols (XNS-derived in the case of 3Com, Banyan or Novell), or incompatible subsets of OSI transport protocols, or whatever else. The major benefit conformance to the TCP standard brings is the ability to interoperate between different vendors' implementations. A couple of commercial versions are available now, for PCs, and more should be (for some other systems, too) within 30 to 90 days. James B. VanBokkelen FTP Software Inc.
CERF@A.ISI.EDU (02/14/88)
James, Doesn't the use of TCP/IP to support NETBIOS also open up the possibility of interactions between PCs in the TCP/IP-extended NETBIOS environment and hosts in the rest of the Internet (or private internet)? I think it was this extension of interaction which was the major motivating factor for people like Dave Crocker (then of Ungermann-Bass, now of Wollongong). Vint