[comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc] Telnet/FTP and PC-NFS

patrick@casbs.Stanford.EDU (Patrick Goebel) (02/12/91)

G'day Fellow Netlanders--

Lately there has been some discussion concerning the simultaneous use
of Telnet/FTP and NFS on networked PC's.  As the network administrator
of a 90-node ethernet TCP/IP LAN, I am eager to make both services
available to our users.

To date I have been using NCSA Telnet (version 2.2D) and the consensus
amongst our users is that they love it.  I am now in search of an NFS
program that they can also live with.

As I understand the issue, there is a problem of maintaining control
over the "IP stack" when two or more "application layer" programs
attempt to simultaneously access the same ethernet card.  Two
commercial products that apparently integrated Telnet/FTP and NFS
services are Sun's PC-NFS and Wollongong's WIN/TCP (are there others?
see Q2 below).

Some authors have implied that Sun's Telnet program leaves much to be
desired.  They therefore seek to use NCSA Telnet (version 2.2D/NFS-A)
in conjunction with Sun's PC-NFS.

I myself have just finished a week or so of setting up Wollongong's
WIN/TCP on a handful of PC's connected to a Sun server (4/330 running
SunOS 4.0.3).  I have found that the NFS service runs great but that
the Telnet program (using vt100 emulation) is very slow and possesses
little potential for customization (e.g. screen colors; key bindings).

I tried running NCSA Telnet 2.2D/NFS-A in conjunction with
Wollongong's NFS module and received the error:

NFS000F : PC-NFS is not installed or has been disabled.

My guess is that NCSA Telnet 2.2D/NFS-A is designed for use with
_Sun's_ PC-NFS.

All of this had engendered a number of questions that I'm hoping the
Network Gurus out there can answer:



Q1: Does the term "PC-NFS" always mean "Sun PC-NFS" unless otherwise
specified?

Q2: What other commercial packages are available (besides Wollongong
and Sun) that integrate Telnet/FTP and NFS?  Are they any good?

Q3: Is Sun's Telnet program really all that bad?  Does it allow
customization of screen colors and/or key bindings?  How is its scroll
rate?

Q4: Hats off to the makers of NCSA Telnet/FTP.  Dare I ask, are there
plans to develop a companion NFS program to complement it?  Or does
one already exist?

Many thanks for any responses.  I'll be happy to post a summary of the
results.

Cheers,
patrick

--
R. Patrick Goebel                 E-MAIL: patrick@casbs.Stanford.EDU
Network Administrator             VOICE:  (415) 321-2052
CASBS, 202 Junipero Serra Blvd.   FAX:    (415) 321-1192
Stanford, CA 94305                BEEPER: Temporarily Out of Order...

geoff@hinode.East.Sun.COM (Geoff Arnold @ Sun BOS - R.H. coast near the top) (02/12/91)

Quoth patrick@casbs.Stanford.EDU (Patrick Goebel) (in <1991Feb11.222828.1566@portia.Stanford.EDU>):
#Q1: Does the term "PC-NFS" always mean "Sun PC-NFS" unless otherwise
#specified?

Well, usage tends to be somewhat lax, but since PC-NFS is a registered
trademark of Sun Microsystems it _should_ always refer to our product. The
X/Open terminology for a generic DOS NFS implementation is (PC)NFS.....

#Q2: What other commercial packages are available (besides Wollongong
#and Sun) that integrate Telnet/FTP and NFS?  Are they any good?

FTP Software, Beame & Whiteside, Siemens Nixdorf (or is it Nixdorf Siemens?)
I'll leave ratings up to more objective folks.

#Q3: Is Sun's Telnet program really all that bad?  Does it allow
#customization of screen colors and/or key bindings?  How is its scroll
#rate?

It's basic. Very basic. There are a number of third-party products
which offer multi-emulation, multi-session, multi-feature terminal
emulation, and so far we have elected not to compete with them.

#Q4: Hats off to the makers of NCSA Telnet/FTP.  Dare I ask, are there
#plans to develop a companion NFS program to complement it?  Or does
#one already exist?

Can't speak for the various NCSA developers, but I should point out
that developing a bulletproof DOS redirector is a much more thorny
task than building an application such as Telnet. Testing is [expletives
deleted].

-------------------------------------------------

Note: I'm cross-posting comp.protocols.nfs, which is where most NFS
issues get aired.

Geoff


-- Geoff Arnold, PC-NFS architect, Sun Microsystems. (geoff@East.Sun.COM)   --
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--                   No cute comments. War isn't cute.                      --
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kjetilo@gollum.uio.no (Kjetil Otter Olsen) (02/13/91)

>Subject: Re: Telnet/FTP and PC-NFS
>From: geoff@hinode.East.Sun.COM (Geoff Arnold @ Sun BOS - R.H. coast near the top)
>Organization: Sun Microsystems PC-NFS Engineering
>Date: 12 Feb 91 15:51:45 GMT
>
>#Q3: Is Sun's Telnet program really all that bad?  Does it allow
>#customization of screen colors and/or key bindings?  How is its scroll
>#rate?
>
>It's basic. Very basic. There are a number of third-party products
>which offer multi-emulation, multi-session, multi-feature terminal
>emulation, and so far we have elected not to compete with them.
>
>-- Geoff Arnold, PC-NFS architect, Sun Microsystems. (geoff@East.Sun.COM)   --
>

Pointers to those third-party "telnet" products (and the vendors) would be
very interesting.

-----
Kjetil Otter Olsen				kjetilo@gollum.uio.no
PC / Network Consultant
Central Computing Service,     University of Oslo,     Norway
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