beame@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Carl Beame) (05/17/91)
BEAME & WHITESIDE RELEASES NFS CLIENT SOFTWARE TO SUPPORT NOVELL'S LAN WORKPLACE Third-party NFS Solution Delivers Seamless TCP/IP Connection With Minimal Memory Overhead ANCASTER, ONT -- In conjunction with today's release of LAN WorkPlace for DOS version 4.0 by Novell Inc., Beame & Whiteside Software Ltd. has released BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace, which provides virtual disk and printer connections to NFS servers for DOS-based workstations connected to Novell networks that support LAN WorkPlace for DOS. With BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace, PC users gain seamless access to network sources via NFS. Novell's LAN WorkPlace for DOS gives DOS and Microsoft Windows 3.0 users access to UNIX and other computing resources via TCP/IP, the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. By adding Beame & Whiteside's BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace, these same DOS and Windows users can also become NFS clients, accessing UNIX and NFS resources from any server that supports Sun Microsystems' Network File System standard. BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace can redirect up to 24 virtual disks or file systems and eight printers, so those distributed computing resources appear to be local disk drives and printers. BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace supports all UNIX file protection functions, as well as utilizing a different UID (user identification) and up to 16 GIDs (group identification) for each redirection. BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace supports all DOS functions, including all DOS 3.1 file locking and sharing. It also allows users to simultaneous access both NFS and NetWare servers. Like NetWare, BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace is topology-independent and will work with either Ethernet or Token-Ring networks. "NetWare users are finding it increasingly necessary to connect their LANs to other computing systems via TCP/IP," said Carl Beame, President of Beame & Whiteside. "By offering a third-party NFS solution, we are opening up the UNIX universe to DOS users who can now access UNIX files and print services just as though they were local resources. With products such as BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace, the NetWare envelope can be expanded to encompass truly transparent, enterprise-wide computing." BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace is extremely fast with low workstation memory overhead. Other NFS approaches can only transfer 1 kilobyte of data at a time, but BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace transfers data in blocks of up to 8 Kbytes, which means faster remote disk access. The workstation memory requirements are also modest; BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace consumes only 48 Kbytes of RAM, and it can be loaded in high memory. BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace is also compatible with all modes of Microsoft Windows 3.0, allowing find and print managers to connect to network devices and servers from within Windows. BW-NFS for LAN WorkPlace is compatible with DOS version 3.1 and later. It is available for $245. Right-to-copy licenses and educational discounts are also available. Beame & Whiteside Software Ltd. specializes in developing TCP/IP and NFS connectivity solutions for DOS-based computing environments. The company offers a range of NFS solutions for the IBM PC platform that are both DOS and Windows-compatible. Beame & Whiteside Software Ltd. can be reached at P.O. Box 8130, Dundas, Ontario L9H 5E7; telephone/FAX (416) 648-6556. LAN WorkPlace for DOS is a registered trademark of Novell Inc. NFS is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.