jbvb@FTP.COM ("James B. Van Bokkelen") (05/06/91)
Archive-name: internet/packet-drivers/packet-d-spec/1991-05-04
Archive: vax.ftp.com:/pub/packet-d.* [128.127.2.100]
Original-posting-by: jbvb@FTP.COM ("James B. Van Bokkelen")
Original-subject: Re: Question about packet, NDIS, Clarkson, BYU, etc
Reposted-by: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN)
- Why does FTP Inc. ship all that public domain software [the Clarkson
Packet Driver collection] with their product?
Ultimately, because John Romkey, Dave Bridgham and I each wrote 7 or 8
different network board drivers - quite enough to get very tired of them;
They're about the most frustrating coding work I've ever done, and the
quality of documentation available from most manufacturers doesn't help.
John wanted to push the responsibility for the hardware driver back to the
board vendor, and make them ship it on a diskette with the diagnostics,
along with every board. Then the user could just use whatever protocol
stack he wanted. IBM had enough clout in the 802.5 world so that *everything*
has an Adapter Support Interface (TOKREUI or LAN Support Program) driver.
Apple had enough to do the same with Appletalk and Ethernet cards for Macs.
However, in the Ethernet world, things aren't so simple. There were probably
a dozen Packet Drivers extant when Microsoft and 3Com first came out with the
Network Device Interface Specification in 1988; they may not have been aware
of the Packet Driver spec, and in any case were pursuing a solution for both
DOS and OS/2 (which the PDS doesn't handle). Limitations in v1 of the NDIS
spec (v2 came out in 1989, but I haven't yet seen a driver conforming to it)
led to continued Packet Driver development, including the freeware collection
centered around Russ Nelson of Clarkson U's skeleton driver. Then Novell,
for reasons which have at least some basis in the intense competition between
Netware and LAN Manager, came out with Open Datalink Interface. The ODI spec
first appeared in draft form in 1988, but the first few drivers didn't ship
till this year.
So, there are now three different ways to talk to Ethernet cards. Almost
every board vendor has an NDIS driver (there are probably more than 100 of
them). I don't know if they exist for Novell cards, but I know they do for
the Excelan product line. Not all of them are easy to lay hands on (some
vendors charge extra, some ship the drivers if you ask for them, some always
include them). Quite a number of vendors have their own Packet Drivers, and
the freeware is available in source form, which makes it easier for vendors
and the academic community to create new ones (there are probably around 75
Packet Drivers all told). ODI is new, and its acceptance is limited because
you have to (last I knew) license the Link Support Layer module from Novell
even if you aren't going to use Netware. There are only about 10 or 15 ODI
drivers available at this time (Novell did them for both their own cards and
3Com's, Interlan has one for the NI5210). As Frances said, we ship the
freeware to make things simpler for the end-user, who is the real victim of
this regrettable confusion.
The Packet Driver spec (v1.09 is current) and both v1 and v2 of the NDIS
spec are available for anonymous ftp from vax.ftp.com. The ODI spec is
only available in printed form from Novell as of this date.
James B. VanBokkelen 26 Princess St., Wakefield, MA 01880
FTP Software Inc. voice: (617) 246-0900 fax: (617) 246-0901
-- comp.archives file verification
vax.ftp.com
-rw-r--r-- 1 1006 15 37617 Sep 14 1989 /pub/packet-d.ascii
-rw-r--r-- 1 1002 15 35495 Sep 15 1989 /pub/packet-d.mss
-rw-r--r-- 1 1006 15 81581 Sep 14 1989 /pub/packet-d.prn
found packet-d-spec ok
vax.ftp.com:/pub/packet-d.*