kwe@bu-cs.BU.EDU (kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent W. England)) (11/23/87)
I hope this is the right forum to be asking Mac networking
questions. This is a rather long query, but Mac networking in a
Unix/Enet internet environment is complex and rapidly changing. If
this material has been covered by most of you, then I would appreciate
direct e-mail responses which I will summarize to the list if the
response warrants. Thank you all in advance.
Please note that I have posted to multiple newsgroups, so
please limit your response, if broadcast, to the group you read it on.
Thanks.
While I am new to AppleTalk (AT) networking I am familiar with
IP and DECnet and understand the routing/name service/etc issues
fairly well. I have not yet gotten into the gory details of
AppleTalk/EtherTalk, but I would like to frame some general questions
to you to help me get up the learning curve a little faster. So, for
some general opinions of AppleTalk:
I like the dynamic nature of AppleTalk and its use of
broadcast messages to acquire/defend names and addresses, but I am
concerned about how this scales up into large zoned AppleTalk
networks, particularly in an Ethernet/IP environment. Is
AppleTalk/EtherTalk robust enough for a large AppleTalk internet or
for AppleTalks operating in a large IP internet?
Should I be running AT protocols on Unix servers or should I
be trying to bring the Unix services (eg NFS) down to the Mac?
With the introduction of EtherTalk and a differing AT
encapsulation on Enet what problems are we going to encounter? Is
EtherTalk fundamentally (ie, more than (re)defining Enet
encapsulation) different than its lower speed forebear?
I am looking to provide what I have arbitrarily defined as
four major types of network services for the Mac environment operating
in an Ethernet internet running primarily IP protocols. I should tell
you that Boston University has a large population of Sun workstations
and servers, a large population of VMS machines running DECnet, some
Encore Multimaxen and Annexen, and a token ring backbone router
network routing IP and DECnet traffic.
The first capability I am looking to provide is Mac File
Service (MacFile) to allow Macintoshes to store and retrieve Mac HFS
format files on Unix servers. The file system should be Unix
compatible and be able to be managed by plain vanilla system
management utilities just like the Unix file system.
Second is Mac Print Service (MacPrint) to provide print
spooling and queue control for AT LaserWriters as well as PostScript
printers attached to Unix servers. The spools should interoperate
with the Unix spoolers allowing a mix of Mac and Unix output on the
same PS printer queue.
Third is Mac Mail Service (MacMail) allowing Mac-to-Mac
transfer of formatted text and graphics via Unix servers. I would
also like to allow transform/transfer between MacMail and SMTP mail
handlers preserving the Mac formats.
Fourth is Mac Unix Services (MacUnix) to allow transformation
of file formats from Unix programs to Mac formats. Simple ASCII text
would be the first step, but I would also like to be able to transform
formatted text and graphics like TeX or LaTeX to MacWrite/Word/other
format. These transform utilities should operate transparently as
documents are moved from one folder to the other.
I am currently researching AppleShare/LaserShare, UltraOffice,
and TOPS. I have the Farallon and Kinetics hardware and am currently
using the CAP/KIP packages to get AppleShare running on a Sun server.
I am concerned about the impact of EtherTalk on this configuration and
am wondering whether it is wise to spec AppleShare/LaserShare as the
protocol for MacFile/MacPrint or whether there is a way, ala
UltraOffice, to run the IP protocols exclusively on the Ethernet. Any
opinions on how I should pursue MacFile/Print/Mail/Unix capability?
How should I approach the AT protocol routing issue? Should
AT remain encapsulated in IP Enet packets for transfer through the IP
internet? Does it make sense to plan on AT routers? Is AT too weak
to allow large scale internetting of AT and AT/IP? Should there be a
mix of AT and IP encapsulated AT on the same networks?
Thanks for reading and I hope you take the time to give me
your opinions. Descriptions of network configurations that you have
or are planning would be appreciated along with descriptions of how
you provide the File/Print/Mail/Unix services I outlined above.
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Kent W. England | Boston University
Network & Systems Engineering Group | Information Technology
kwe@bu-it.bu.edu internet | 111 Cummington Street
itkwe@bostonu BITnet | Boston, MA 02215
harvard!bu-cs!kwe UUCP | (617) 353-2780
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Kent W. England | Boston University
Network & Systems Engineering Group | Information Technology
kwe@bu-it.bu.edu internet | 111 Cummington Street
itkwe@bostonu BITnet | Boston, MA 02215
harvard!bu-cs!kwe UUCP | (617) 353-2780
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