[comp.protocols.appletalk] Netnews to Appletalk?

ralphw@IUS2.CS.CMU.EDU (Ralph Hyre) (11/11/87)

Followup-to:comp.protocols.appletalk


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In article <111@w3vh.UUCP> rolfe@w3vh.UUCP (Rolfe Tessem) writes:
>I'm brand new to the net, so I'll apologize in advance if this posting is to
>the wrong group.
You might try comp.protocols.appletalk, which address Appletalk networking
issues.  You didn't mention how your Macs would connect to the DARPA
Internet, but typically you need government sponsorship of research.
USENET is a separate network, but it is connected to the Internet for
mail and news.  You will probably find it easier (and cheaper) to hook up
USENET and uucp-based mail at your site.

>... Is there a relatively inexpensive way to set this network 
[of Macintoshes],up 

An AT clone could work, but you will may want to run Unix on it to make
software integration easier.  None of this stuff is packaged, so you will
want a C compiler and sources for things.  An easy way to do news across
networks is to run the NetNews Transfer protocol (NNTP) on top of the TCP/IP 
protocol, on top of the Appletalk protocols.

Here's what you'll need for the news and mail server (AT clone on usenet)
- an AppleTalk card
- A USENET package (uucp + some utilities)
- A TCP/IP implementation that runs over Appletalk
- an NNTP (NetNews transfer protocol) server that talks to the above

Here's what you need for the Macs
- TCP/IP on Appletalk packages for the Macs.
- NNTP clients for the Macs that uses the above.

This all gets you news reading capability, I don't know what to recommend
for mail.

This could easily cost >$1K if you do it with commercial stuff.  On the
other hand, you should know about Phil Karn's KA9Q TCP/IP package for the PC.
It is free for non-commercial use, and there are Mac ports of it as well.
(don't know if they support AppleTalk, though.)

People are planning to do NNTP implementations on top of Phil's package.

-- 
					- Ralph W. Hyre, Jr.

Internet: ralphw@ius2.cs.cmu.edu    Phone:(412)268-{2847,3275} CMU-{BUGS,DARK}
Amateur Packet Radio: N3FGW@W2XO, or c/o W3VC, CMU Radio Club, Pittsburgh, PA