bin@primate.wisc.edu (Brain in Neutral) (08/30/90)
(1) To what degree is it still true that Macintoshes on a LocalTalk network must be running the same version of the System file, LaserPrep, etc.? I presume that, e.g., System 6 is incompatible with System 5 and the usual woes will occur. What about various releases of System 6, e.g., 6.0.1 vs. 6.0.2? (2) What about cases where more than one LT network is involved, e.g., two nets connected over a bridge, or two nets that reach each other through an intervening ethernet via tunneling? What degree of system homogeneity is necessary then? (3) When the system is updated, what approaches might one take to avoid running around to each Macintosh on the net, updating each one individually? Paul DuBois dubois@primate.wisc.edu
gtw@EXTRO.UCC.SU.OZ.AU (G Taylor-Wood) (08/30/90)
In a previous posting Paul DuBois asks:
(1) To what degree is it still true that Macintoshes on a LocalTalk
network must be running the same version of the System file,
LaserPrep, etc.? I presume that, e.g., System 6 is incompatible
with System 5 and the usual woes will occur. What about various
releases of System 6, e.g., 6.0.1 vs. 6.0.2?
(2) What about cases where more than one LT network is involved,
e.g., two nets connected over a bridge, or two nets that reach each
other through an intervening ethernet via tunneling? What degree
of system homogeneity is necessary then?
I have always believed that the only area of incompatibility is LaserWriter
drivers, If different machines use different Laserprep's than the laserWriter
will be reset each time a print job arrives with a different Laserprep to the
previous job. Other than that it dosn't make any difference what versions of the
system different machines on the network are using.
(3) When the system is updated, what approaches might one take to
avoid running around to each Macintosh on the net, updating each
one individually?
I have been looking at the Installer by Apple, the latest version can use a
fileserver mounted over a network as a source for updates. You will still face
the difficulty of getting users to run the installer but at least you can load
updates to all your standard software in one easy hit. The only problem is
that the scripting language looks fairly nasty, does anybody have any experience
doing this sort of thing ?.
If you have a set of machines in a lab which all have a set of standard software
on tham than there a a couple of programs which make the local hard disk a
mirror of some master hard disk.
If anybody has any other solutions I would like to hear about them.
regards
Gilbert.
----
Gilbert Taylor-Wood gtw@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU
Faculty of Arts Programmer
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Ph (02) 692 4713francis@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu (RD Francis) (08/30/90)
In article <3009@uakari.primate.wisc.edu> bin@primate.wisc.edu (Brain in Neutral) writes: >(1) To what degree is it still true that Macintoshes on a LocalTalk network >must be running the same version of the System file, LaserPrep, etc.? >I presume that, e.g., System 6 is incompatible with System 5 and the usual >woes will occur. What about various releases of System 6, e.g., 6.0.1 vs. >6.0.2? > >(2) What about cases where more than one LT network is involved, e.g., two >nets connected over a bridge, or two nets that reach each other through >an intervening ethernet via tunneling? What degree of system homogeneity >is necessary then? To address your first two queries, I think you are slightly misinformed. To the best of my knowledge, you can run any combination of system software available that will run the machines in use on your LocalTalk network, or your combined network. If one person is running System 6.0.5, another is running alpha 7.0, and a third is running off the system that cam ewith the Mac Plus when it first came out, Your network will still function normally. There *is* ONE potential problem; the LaserWriter driver (LaserWriter and LaserPrep files). If two people on your network are using different versions of this, then each time someone goes to print who is using a different LW driver from the last guy, the Mac will have to re-initialize the printer. You'll waste a sheet of paper, and some time. This is what is commonly known as LaserWriter Wars. I do recommend that everyone use the same version of the LW drivers. However, this recommendation could change in a few years. The 7.0 LW driver is modularized in an effort to allow different people to print to the same printer with different drivers without forcing the LaserWriter to be reinitialized each time. So if everyone is using System 7.0 (or at least 7.0 LW software) or higher, it will truly not make any difference at all which specific versions of the system each person uses. -- R David Francis francis@cis.ohio-state.edu
bin@primate.wisc.edu (Brain in Neutral) (08/31/90)
From article <83369@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>, by francis@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu (RD Francis): > In article <3009@uakari.primate.wisc.edu> bin@primate.wisc.edu (Brain in Neutral) writes: >>(1) To what degree is it still true that Macintoshes on a LocalTalk network >>must be running the same version of the System file, LaserPrep, etc.? >>I presume that, e.g., System 6 is incompatible with System 5 and the usual >>woes will occur. What about various releases of System 6, e.g., 6.0.1 vs. >>6.0.2? > To address your first two queries, I think you are slightly > misinformed. To the best of my knowledge, you can run any combination > of system software ... Quite probably true. My impression was formed because in the dim past I used to use the services of a public lab that insisted everybody use their boot disks to enforce a consistent version of the System. Perhaps this was just conservatism on their part. I'm glad to hear the requirements are not quite so stringent. Paul DuBois dubois@primate.wisc.edu