jpm@sauna.hut.fi (Jussi-Pekka Mantere) (08/18/88)
In article <951@srs.UUCP>, dan@srs (Dan Kegel) writes: >There seem to be only two systems that let plain old Mac programs >transparantly access files on a remote Unix fileserver: > >1. Cayman Systems' Gatorbox > This box lets Mac applications use files from any NFS file server; How about using Mac files stored on the NFS file server from the Unix side? Will there be three different files for the three Macintosh file forks (info, data & resource)? If so, how will a text file be stored? Especially, is there any character set conversions from US ASCII to a "national" ASCII set (pick your favorite European character set)? > it is also a complete superset of the Kinetics FastPath. Will it be able to run KIP (Kinetics Internet Protocol) code or is it compatible with KIP style dynamic IP address assignment? How will it configure itself to the two networks? Does it "autoconfigure" itself, the way Kinetics FastPath 4 does, or does it require explicit network administration? > Not only does it allow use of TCP/IP protocols on LocalTalk, > but it allows use of AppleTalk protocols on Ethernet, and Is this "EtherTalk" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > translates Apple Filing Protocol requests into NFS requests regardless of > whether they arrive over Ethernet or Appletalk. > Either LocalTalk or Ethernet may be used to connect the Macs to the box; > either thick or thin Ethernet may be specified. > The number of Macs that one Gatorbox can support depends on how often the > Macs need to use the network. > This is a slick box! They built EXACTLY what I was looking for. BUT: Can it be used to access both AppleTalk-in-IP speaking hosts (an Unix host running CAP (Columbia Appletalk Package)) and EtherTalk speaking hosts (a VAX/VMS host with AppleTalk for VMS, a Sun-3 with TOPS for Sun) from Macs speaking either AppleTalk or EtherTalk? To summarize: I'm impressed, but does it work for us? >Terminology: > EtherTalk is Ethernet, the standard 10 Megabite/sec networking hardware; Actually, EtherTalk is another Ethernet-protocol, and not restricted to any particular hardware. For example, a Mac can use EtherTalk over twisted pair wires, or phone lines, with the appropriate hardware. Not necessarily your "standard networking hardware" :-) > Dan Kegel "We had to get it passed before the columnists attacked!" > srs!dan@cs.rochester.edu rochester!srs!dan dan%srs.uucp@harvard.harvard.edu -- Jussi-Pekka Mantere jpm@cs.hut.fi Helsinki University of Technology, Finland jpm@finhutcs.bitnet Laboratory of Information Processing Science + 358 0 451 2487