hin@tnosel.UUCP (Hin Oey) (01/28/88)
L.S. Propably this question has been asked before, if so, I would appreciate it if someone on the net could mail me some of the relevant postings. There are a lot of networks, with even more (dis)advantages. I want to put some pc's - especially 386 - in an network which should work with tcp-ip, but if possible also with NFS, but: - what are the possibilities with cards; - it is possible to work without a network, but what are then the disadvantages. Regards, Hin Oey (mcvax!tnosel!hin) Netherlands
jbvb@VAX.FTP.COM (James Van Bokkelen) (02/23/88)
Sorry, but the 3C503 (3Com Etherlink Plus) is *not* identical to the WD8003 (Western Digital Ethercard Plus). They have the same LAN controller chip on them, so there are some common factors in their drivers, but you can't expect to even do one driver that works for both... BTW, I finally figured out what was wrong with our 3C503 driver, and we're shipping it as of today... James VanBokkelen FTP Software Inc.
jac@UMD5.UMD.EDU ("Joseph A. Cimmino Jr.") (02/23/88)
Correct in that the 3c503 isn't the same as the WD8003. However, the 3Com Etherlink Plus is the 3c505, for which WD also has no equivalent. The 3C503 is the Etherlink II. ------------------------------ Joseph A. Cimmino, Jr. University of Maryland, Systems jac@umd5.umd.edu +1 301 454 2946 PC/IP Group cimminoj@umdd.bitnet Bertolt Brecht: You made your bed, so you lie in it.
WALSH@IRLEARN.BITNET ("Michael E. Walsh") (02/23/88)
My local supplier says that 3COM are terminating manufacture of the 3C501 and that they are increasingly difficult to get. Does anyone have the true story about this? Its of interest because so few PC/Ips support the 3C503. Michael Walsh University College Dublin, Ireland.
jbvb@VAX.FTP.COM (James Van Bokkelen) (02/24/88)
3Com certainly intended to discontinue the 3C501 at some point, when they introduced the 3C503, and I've heard the same stories of 501s being hard to get. However, I recently heard a rumor that one of 3Com's big OEMs refused to port their code to the 3C503, and that the manufacture of the 3C501 may be continued, for a while anyway. jbvb
hargrove@ecsvax.UUCP (William F. Hargrove) (02/25/88)
My organization is currently planning to connect serveral pc's to vax using Ethernet boards and the MIT/CMU PCIP software. Therefore the following interchange across the net (combined with the knowledge that drivers for the 3C503 cards are not available with the original public domain package came as quite a shock: Article 532 of comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc: "Sorry, but the 3C503 (3Com Etherlink Plus) is *not* identical to the WD8003 (Western Digital Ethercard Plus). They have the same LAN controller chip on them, so there are some common factors in their drivers, but you can't expect to even do one driver that works for both... BTW, I finally figured out what was wrong with our 3C503 driver, and we're shipping it as of today..." --James VanBokkelen FTP Software Inc. Article 539 of comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc: "My local supplier says that 3COM are terminating manufacture of the 3C501 and that they are increasingly difficult to get. Does anyone have the true story about this? Its of interest because so few PC/Ips support the 3C503." --Michael Walsh University College Dublin Ireland. Article 540 of comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc: "3Com certainly intended to discontinue the 3C501 at some point, when they introduced the 3C503, and I've heard the same stories of 501s being hard to get. However, I recently heard a rumor that one of 3Com's big OEMs refused to port their code to the 3C503, and that the manufacture of the 3C501 may be continued, for a while anyway." --jbvb And now my personal experience in ordering Etherlink cards from GTE - which certainly ought to be a big enough OEM for 3Comm to take notice. The GTE sales rep. said: "Unless you have a specific reason for ordering the EtherLink card (3C501) you really ought to order the EtherLink II (3C503) because it's a better card and 3Comm has said it intends to stop making the EtherLink card in six months, and the old EtherLink cards are really short inventory now anyway...." BTW: this conversation took place on February 22, 1988. So it would seem the rumor has some basis in fact. My question now (mainly of Mr. VanBokkelen is: Does your organization (FTP Software) sell the 3C503 driver separately and if so for how much? and (2) if you do not what does the PCIP package with the 3C503 driver go for? I am assuming that it makes good sense to go with the 3C503 cards since the 3C501's are destined to go the do-do bird. .....OR DOES IT ? Bill Hargrove UNC Educational Computing Service Research Triangle Park, NC
jbvb@VAX.FTP.COM (James Van Bokkelen) (02/27/88)
FTP does sell source, but our price is rather high for academic users (although we have done business with several large academic sites). Sorry to say, our inventory of hardware drivers represents enough of our competitive advantage that we must value it highly. We sell the executable package for $400 quantity 1, $175/copy for Site Licenses for between 20 & 49 copies, less per copy for larger quantities. Programming libraries (including sockets) are available for Microsoft C. We have an academic discount, too. Call us, or send us a USMail address and we'll send out the price list, etc. Regarding the underlying technical issues, the 3C501 is an old design, doomed to be slow on loaded nets and with fast hosts because of its 1-buffer architecture. It also has trouble with transceivers which generate heartbeat (like the DEC DELNI). Any other network card we support is faster than the 3C501 (I'm not sure it is the slowest available, but it is the slowest I have used). The 3C503 is definitely better (although not fastest, in my opinion). Other "3rd generation" cards with a similar architecture include the Western Digital WD8003, the MICOM-Interlan NI5210, the Univation NC-516, the Ungermann-Bass PC-NIC and the National Semiconductor/Novell card. Our driver for the 3C503 is about average among this group. I don't know how other developers rank it. James VanBokkelen FTP Software Inc. (617) 868-4878
hargrove@ecsvax.UUCP ("William F. Hargrove") (03/01/88)
Subject: Re: Choosing network boards Status: R FTP does sell source, but our price is rather high for academic users (although we have done business with several large academic sites). Sorry to say, our inventory of hardware drivers represents enough of our competitive advantage that we must value it highly. We sell the executable package for $400 quantity 1, $175/copy for Site Licenses for between 20 & 49 copies, less per copy for larger quantities. Programming libraries (including sockets) are available for Microsoft C. We have an academic discount, too. Call us, or send us a USMail address and we'll send out the price list, etc. James VanBokkelen FTP Software Inc. (617) 868-4878 Thanks for your reply: I do not think we will purchase the source from you in the immediate future because of our situation: we are a small off-campus organization with 10 pc's and a couple of vaxen which are used as mail-news machines mainly for the North Carolina State University System. We are however, in the business of evaluating/recommending hardware and software to/for the 16 campuses of the state system - and to that end we are very much interested in more information your products/prices. So: We would be VERY much interested in receiving your price list and additional information. Please send it to: William F. Hargrove UNC Educational Computing Service Box 12035 Research Trinagle Park, NC 27709-2035
karn@thumper.bellcore.com (Phil R. Karn) (03/05/88)
Unlike certain commercial alternatives, complete source for the KA9Q TCP/IP package is FREE. It's on louie.udel.edu under /pub/ka9q/net_src.arc (anonymous ftp). While the code is freely available, permission is granted for non-commercial copying and use only. Phil
BECKER@HUMBER.BITNET (Bruce Becker) (03/07/88)
Phil, how can I get:
1). Source for newest release of TCP/IP ported to Amiga
2). Source thru the BitNet
Thanks, Bruce Becker Humber College Etobicoke, Ontario