pnr@hupu.hut.fi (Pekka Nikander) (12/27/88)
[I am new to this newsgroup, so please forgive me if this has been
discussed here recently. Please reply by mail -- I'll summarize to
the net.]
BACKGROUND
Our student union has a group of PC:s that they would like to
network. They already have a Sun-3 server and an Ethernet LAN, so
PC-NFS would be a natural choice. The Ethernet LAN of the student
union is connected (currently via a bridge, maybe in future via a
router) to our local campus wide LAN. The PC:s to be connected are
used for accounting, budgeting, word processing etc.
PROBLEMS
1.According to the documents and our local PC-NFS dealer (Nokia Corp.)
there is no support for Netbios in PC-NFS. They also said that as
far as they know, not Sun nor anyone else is planning to make such a
product.
2.Naturally we are worried about the security when connecting PC:s to
a fairly large TCP/IP network.
QUESTIONS
1.Do you know any third party software that could be somehow
combined with PC-NFS so that
o NFS-shared discs and
o PC-NFS print spooling or BSD-style TCP/IP print spooling
could be used, and in the same time
o network versions of programs like dBASE would work?
Do you know if Sun/Locus is going to develop/has already developed
such a software?
2.Do you know any potential security risks if the PC:s were connected
with PC-NFS or other software to the LAN? I am aware of the risks
caused by using some network monitor or otherwise monitoring the
network, but are there any other potential risks you know of? The
security of the local network the PC:s are connected to is not of so
much concern, but the network on the other side of the bridge is.
--
--Pekka Nikander Internet: pnr@hupu.hut.fi -or-
Pekka_Nikander@hut.fi
Helsinki University of Technology UUCP: ...!mcvax!santra!hupu!pnr
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