m1rlr01@fed.frb.gov (Rich Rauscher) (07/16/90)
Well, as promiced, here's a summation of my original question
about using TCP/IP over token-ring. Thanks to all who replied; your
suggestions are going to help a lot.
-Rich
----------------------------------------
From: uunet!yj.data.nokia.fi!jel (Jerry Lahti)
Your lucky day seems to be Friday the 13th... ;-)
There is at least one combination of products which seems to suit
your requirements: the Token Ring version of PC/TCP from FTP Software Inc.
plus the IBM 8209 Token Ring-Ethernet bridge. The combination has been
used here for a couple of months now and it simply works.
PC/TCP seems to be one of the better DOS TCP/IP products. The company
even has NFS (Interdrive) for DOS. The network kernel is also supported
e.g. by several DOS X Windows server packages. There is also an OS/2
version which should support Token Ring. The worst feature of the DOS
product is that the protocols use at least 76 kB memory. The stack is
unloadable, though.
I hate to recommend an IBM product but the 8209 bridge seems to be a
nice box. It is somewhat larger than a PS/2 m50 but somewhat smaller
than the old PC AT box. It is quite silent - no fan, I presume. Actually
the 8209 is standing on the window sill beside one of my office mates and
he is not complaining. Probably not the best possible location but the
temporary solution seems to have become permanent. :-) The 8209 does
Token Ring source routing and is smart enough to automatically figure out
if an Ethernet host is running 802.3 or Ethernet II protocols. If the
host is an Ethernet II host it will prepend a SNAP header before bridging
the frame to Token Ring. (This is what makes TCP/IP work.) The only
problem is that the 8209 does not seem to be able to handle
an Ethernet host which runs *both* Ethernet II and 802.3 based protocols.
(This is actually a bit indirectly mentioned in the IBM manual.)
Installation was quite simple. There were some configuration switches
which can be set but the defaults are really reasonable. More detailed
setup can be done over the network with a PC based proprietary configuration
program. (No SNMP :-( .) We have not needed to use it, though. We have
seen no unexpected problems with the bridge but we really have not
tried to push its limits. Bridging speed is probably adequate at least
for PC generated traffic. (16 Mb/sec Token Ring is supported!) Our
Token Ring network is also quite busy with lots of broadcast and multicast
activity generated by tens of LAN Manager servers and hundreds of clients.
(Yes, the box was not bought for TCP/IP traffic but it is a nice bonus
for some of us. :-) Here in Finland the price was in the same ballpark
as the 386 PS/2 machines; it is not dirty cheap but neither is it gouging.
I would call it cheap for what you get.
ALTERNATIVES:
Excelan has a TR-Enet bridge but it does not seem to be smart enough to
automatically add/remove SNAP headers. Micom has a TR-Enet 'gateway'
the picture of which I saw in a customer magazine which had no information
about what the box really does.
3COM has a TCP/IP product which supports Token Ring, too. However, the
version we tested in June used a Token Ring specific broadcast address
and not FFFFFFFFFFFF which prevents Ethernet hosts from recognizing ARPs
and IP broadcasts which the IBM 8209 is otherwise capable of processing.
We complained about this so 3COM may eventually fix it.
Jerry Lahti
Nokia Data Systems Oy, Workgroup Systems/LAN
Domains: jel@tuura.data.nokia.fi
Disclaimer:
This article does not represent the views of my employer.
We OEM the network kernels produced by FTP Software Inc.
IBM is our worst competitor in the PC business but we are still a bit ahead.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Michael J. MacDonald I.S.P." <uunet!ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca!MIKEMAC%UNB.bitnet>
We have a similar setup, with a couple of unix machines on the
Token ring. We use KA9Q on a PS/2 model 30 as a router between
Token ring and ethernet. NCSA TELNET and FTP as the TCP/IP products
for DOS machines.
The router has sat in a wiring closet for about
4 months without being touched, except for the one time we had a
power failure and the PS/2 had to be powered off and then on to
reset itself. On ``normal'' power failures, the thing automatically
boots and starts up KA9Q without human intervention.
The NCSA telnet software handles most things quite well. The
only thing that I really miss is ping.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Mark Beyer <uunet!unix386.Convergent.COM!markb>
I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but I'll describe a product we
make. The platform is called a U6000. This is a line of 386/486-based servers
which support both token ring and ethernet. There's a bunch of different
models, depending on your performance requirements.
If this is what you're after, email me and I'll send you more info.
Regards,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Todd Young <uunet!npdiss1.UUCP:young!npdiss1!>
I am currently using telnet over token ring by using the NCSA Telnet, and the
Clarkson Univ. IBM Token Ring Packet driver. ( Its a NCR Token board though).
We have a Cisco Router which then bridges our ring over to the backbone and
on to our NCR Unix platform, or our IBM host.
Works like a champ !!!!!
--
Todd Young todd.young@StPaul.NCR.COM ( Todd Young )
NCR Comten, St. Paul, Mn.
612-638-7582
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
m1rlr01 Rich Rauscher