tcora@PICA.ARMY.MIL (Tom Coradeschi) (08/29/90)
My original message read: [...] So. We need to provide telnet logins from macs to the Iris (nominally using NCSA Telnet), so folks can create input files, run the code, etc. It would also be nice if we could mount unix directories on the macs, so folks could directly access input files and output files. This way plotting and so forth could be done on the macs, allowing for easy integration of output into papers and such. I'm looking for recommendations as to how to do this. I basically see that there are two popular combinations. 1) Kinetics/Shiva/?? FastPath/Kstar/CAP or 2) Cayman GatorBox/???. Both these packages allow unix directories to be mounted as virtual disks on the macs (right?), basically by turning them into big AppleShare file servers. The Iris speaks NFS, as well (I think that matters). I'd like to hear what folks have done at their sites, particularly with requirements similar to ours, and what the pitfalls and bottlenecks of their particular implementations have been. Of course, if there are other viable means of accomplishing these ends, I'd like to hear about them too... ================= The replies I received fell into two basic categories. First, put all your macs on ethernet. Thanks, but no thanks. Too much like work. Second, get a gateway, either Shiva FastPath, Cayman GatorBox or Webster MultiGate. The FastPath and GatorBox are, and have been, thoroughly discussed across the net. The MultiGate is new to me, and has some interesting features. For example it has 4 localtalk ports, so AppleTalk zoning can also be handled by the gateway. The gist of the comments was that the FastPath is OK, and so is the GatorBox. But. Cayman supports their product MUCH better than Shiva. The GatorBox may be configured from the Mac. This obviates the need for config files on UNIX machines. Since our Irises speak NFS, we can mount UNIX directories on the macs, without hacking CAP. All in all, the overwhelming majority pointed me toward Cayman and the GatorBox. As far as software goes, well, I kind of told the tale in the last paragraph. If you use NFS, the GatorBox and GatorShare should do the trick. Several noted that the NFS implementation is not blindingly fast, sort of the same order of magnitude as a floppy disk. This we can live with. We like simplicity:-} For improved speed, the K-Ashare package from Mt. Xinu was recommended. I have their data sheets, but am at present unsure as to whether or not it will port readily to the Irises. It looks as though we will do the following. Install the GatorBox and GatorShare. That will get our users up and running in a relatively short time. If speed becomes an issue, we will look into K-Ashare as an alternative. (I've seen CAP, and I don't want to mess with it.) My thanks to the following folks, who responded to my query for information on hardware and software for this effort. Steven C. Blair <sblair@synoptics.com> Charles H. Buchholtz <chip@pender.ee.upenn.edu> David Burk <burk@mtxinu.com> Steve Dorner <dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu> Reid Ellis <rae%alias@csri.toronto.edu> Kraig Eno <kraig@milton.u.washington.edu> Tom Evans <wcc@cup.portal.com> Geert Jan de Groot <geertj@ica.philips.nl> Jeffrey C. Kantor <jeff@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu> Russell Mosemann <mosemann@hoss.unl.edu> Mike A. Pasek <ncrons!pasek@nosc.mil> Bill Selig <selig@xanth.msfc.nasa.gov> Alan Stepakoff <Alan_Stepakoff.SYSENG@macq_smtp.jpl.nasa.gov> The vendors are: Edith Desmond David Burke Cayman Systems MT XINU 26 Landsdowne St. 2560 Ninth St Cambridge, MA 02139 Berkeley, CA 94710 617-494-1999 415-644-0146 edith@cayman.com Burk@mtxinu.com Betsy McLindon Michael Georgoff Shiva Corp Webster Computer 155 Second St 2109 O'Toole Ave, Suite J Cambridge, MA 02141 San Jose, CA 95131 617-864-8500 408-954-8054 I hope this helps someonw out there... tom coradeschi <+> tcora@pica.army.mil <+> tcora@dacth01.bitnet