[comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc] Questions about KA9Q

philipp@NUTMEG.LCS.MIT.EDU (Philip Prindeville) (11/06/87)

I was hoping to get a little expertise out of this list wrt. Phil Karn's
KA9Q package.  The code seems very readable, and written with portability
in mind.  I would like to use it at a site, but the following questions
come to mind first, and all pertain to the PC/MS-DOS universe:

	(1) Can it be compiled with the Microsoft C compiler? (Has
	    anyone tried?)

	(2) Are there more drivers out there for it, such as
	    pronet-10 (p1300 card) or arcnet (pdi508) devices?

	(3) Do hosts forward by default?  That is, will any application
	    do IP routing?  (I heard something about a specific gateway
	    program...)

	(4) What sort of bandwidth do you get ether-to-ether (in
	    packets per second)?

	(5) About how often do new releases come out?  My guess is
	    2 or 3 times a year...

	(6) It appears to support fragmentation and routing -- has
	    this code been verified as working?  I.e. has this been
	    tested with a frag-happy router like a Bridge Comm.?

	(7) Is anyone currently working on adding subnet support?

No doubt I could come up with more questions, but this is enough for now.

Thanks in advance for any answers,

-Philip

nelson@CLUTX.CLARKSON.EDU (Russell Nelson) (11/06/87)

   Date: Thu, 5 Nov 87 19:31:40 est
   From: Philip Prindeville <philipp@nutmeg.lcs.mit.edu>

   I was hoping to get a little expertise out of this list wrt. Phil Karn's
   KA9Q package.  The code seems very readable, and written with portability
   in mind.  I would like to use it at a site, but the following questions
   come to mind first, and all pertain to the PC/MS-DOS universe:

	   (1) Can it be compiled with the Microsoft C compiler? (Has
	       anyone tried?)
Probably.  I have heard of ports of versions other than the latest (870829.6).
If you wanted to roll your own, you could start with my Turbo-C port.

	   (2) Are there more drivers out there for it, such as
	       pronet-10 (p1300 card) or arcnet (pdi508) devices?
I don't think so.  Michael Shiels is willing to sift granite to get an
arcnet driver, though...  I'm in the market for a Microm Interlan NS5210 driver
(or whatever the product number for their new cheap PC ethernet card is).

	   (3) Do hosts forward by default?  That is, will any application
	       do IP routing?  (I heard something about a specific gateway
	       program...)
Hosts forward packets to whichever interface you tell them to.  Yes, any
application that sets up the routing will forward packets.

	   (7) Is anyone currently working on adding subnet support?
Subnet support?  Maybe I'm revealing my ignorance, but isn't this subnetting:
route add [128.153]/16 ec0
and to get off of your subnet you use:
route add default ec0 your.gate.way.here.
-russ

tcasey@CS.UCL.AC.UK (11/24/87)

Some time ago you sent out this query about KA9Q. I'm interested in the replies you might have got. What is the story with using the Microsoft 4.0 complier?
Did anyone mention the range of hardware intwerfaces?
Thanks 
Tom