[comp.protocols.appletalk] fast ftp implementations for ethernet macs

jsm@ss01.pppl.gov@ccc.nmfecc.gov (John Scott McCauley Jr.) (03/05/90)

Has anyone been able to set up a Mac II with an ethernet card so that
it can transfer data faster than 30 kbytes/sec with TCP-IP?

Here is the setup I have:
Mac II, color, 5 M ram, 80 M hard disk, NuBus ethernet card (Apple?)
      NCSA Telnet

Best I have been able to see is around 15 kbytes/sec -- wonder if
something is thinking 230 kbaud appletalk someplace.

As even a XT can do better than the Mac II, I hope there is something
I can do to improve performance.

Responses such as 'I use MegaNet and get 150 kbytes/sec' would be 
very helpful.

	Thanks,

		Scott

sfalken@mondo.engin.umich.edu (Steven Falkenburg) (03/05/90)

In article <330@ss01.pppl.gov@ccc.nmfecc.gov> jsm@ss01.pppl.gov@ccc.nmfecc.gov (John Scott McCauley Jr.) writes:
>Has anyone been able to set up a Mac II with an ethernet card so that
>it can transfer data faster than 30 kbytes/sec with TCP-IP?
>
>Here is the setup I have:
>Mac II, color, 5 M ram, 80 M hard disk, NuBus ethernet card (Apple?)
>      NCSA Telnet
>
>Best I have been able to see is around 15 kbytes/sec -- wonder if
>something is thinking 230 kbaud appletalk someplace.
>
>As even a XT can do better than the Mac II, I hope there is something
>I can do to improve performance.
>
>Responses such as 'I use MegaNet and get 150 kbytes/sec' would be 
>very helpful.
>
>	Thanks,
>
>		Scott

Your speed problem is not caused by hardware...  It's a software limitation.
I have been working on a fast client FTP implementation for the Macintosh.
Currently, my program is implemented as an MPW tool, but the FTP implementation
is complete.

Using MacTCP, my FTP tool can achieve speed upwards of 180 k/second to machines
on the same local net.  The target machines which were able to achieve this
speed were a NeXT and a SparcStation 1.  Text transfer times are lower, about
80k/second to these machines.

This high throughput is possible by double-buffering data (receiving from the
net and writing to the disk at the same time).  In addition, while the
transfers are taking place, all device driver calls are asynchronous, so I give
away time using WaitNextEvent when I'm waiting for incoming net traffic.

Don't complain about the Mac II's ethernet card... It's pretty fast compared
to almost anyones.  The problem is that NCSA Telnet is not optimized for FTP.
It's optimized to run the Telnet protocol.

---------------------------
Steven Falkenburg (sfalken@mondo.engin.umich.edu)
Macintosh Programming/Support
Computer Aided Engineering Network
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor