HANK@TAUNIVM.BITNET (Hank Nussbacher) (02/23/89)
When building a PC network, one is confronted with myriad solutions
to PCs. The problem is determining which solution is best for each
scenerio. In order to do that properly, I believe a table would
be helpful.
What I am attempting to do is similar in nature to the Pc/Ip Scorecard.
Below are a number of tables. The rows represent various popular
PC networking solutions. It is not expected be to an "all-inclusive"
list, rather a short list of the most popular ones. The columns
represent services that a user and a computer center would expect
to receive from a PC networking solution.
Please fill in the boxes but send your replies directly to me.
Thanks,
Hank
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
1) Each box is rated from 0-4
0 - not supported
1 - supported, but not recommended since it is either buggy,
slow, unusable or lacks certain key features
2 - fair, but nothing to brag about
3 - good, but not the best
4 - excellent, has all the features, is the fastest implementation
when performing the function, the ultimate solution for this
particular problem
Please use only the above numbering scheme when rating a product.
If the stated function is available as an additional add-on but
at an added cost, then append an 'X' to the number specified.
Example: 3X means that the feature is good but is only available
at an added cost to the base price.
2) Certain boxes have additional comments that appear at the end of
each table. Refer to the comments before reading the table.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE I
+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|X-Window| Peri. | 3270 | E-mail | Tcp/Ip |
| (x11) | sharing | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Kermit | | | | | |
v | | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
WD8003+ | | | | | |
NCSA | | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
D-link | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Banyan Vines | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Novell Netware | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
TOPS | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Starlan | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
3com | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Irma - 3270 | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
ECF | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
1) X-Window: self explanatory
2) Peri. sharing: refers to the ability of the protocol to support
peripheral sharing such as printer sharing. A top score of
4 indicates that this protocol handles all sort of peripheral
sharing, not just printer sharing.
3) 3270: refers to the ability for the PC to logon in fullscreen
mode to an IBM mainframe.
4) E-mail: refers to the ability of the said protocol to support any
sort of electronic mail sharing between PCs. This is not SMTP
mail and may in fact have no ability to talk to "RFC822" mail
systems. In the event that the system supports X.400, the box
will contain the phrase "X.400".
5) Tcp/Ip: support refers to the 3 basic Tcp/Ip functions of FTP,
ARP, ICMP, UDP and ASCII Telnet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE II
+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|Gateways| Speed | Token | Ether- | Twisted |
| | | Ring | net | pair |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Kermit | | | | | |
v | | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
WD8003+ | | | | | |
NCSA | | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
D-link | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Banyan Vines | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Novell Netware | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
TOPS | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Starlan | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
3com | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Irma - 3270 | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
ECF | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
1) Gateways: in this case the numbers are not from 0-4 but rather
1 - Tcp/Ip
2 - DECNET
3 - SNA
4 - X.25
5 - NETBIOS
When reading the word "gateways", imagine that the definition is
"the ability of the said network to communicate with another
totally independent network in the said protocol".
Add an 'X' to each number if it is available at an additional cost.
2) Speed: refers to the speed of the network. This can be a range
if the program can function on slow speed (9.6kb) as well as
high speed (10Mb) physical networks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE III
+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|RS-232 | Apple- | PC | PS/2 | MAC |
| | talk | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Kermit | | | | | |
v | | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
WD8003+ | | | | | |
NCSA | | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
D-link | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Banyan Vines | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Novell Netware | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
TOPS | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Starlan | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
3com | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Irma - 3270 | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
ECF | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE IV
+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| File | Hebrew | Perf. | Price | |
|transfer| | stats | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Kermit | | | | | |
v | | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
WD8003+ | | | | | |
NCSA | | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
D-link | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Banyan Vines | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Novell Netware | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
TOPS | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Starlan | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
3com | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Irma - 3270 | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
ECF | | | | | |
| | | | | |
---------------+--------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
1) File transfer refers to the particular package having the
capability of file transfer.
2) Hebrew - Ignore.
3) Perf. stats refers to the ability to accumulate and report on
performance statistics of the particular package.
4) Price refers to the base price for the package - not including
any additional or optional software/hardware that can be purchased.
The price is based on a PC network supporting 28 stations.