rjudy@cs.umass.edu (WHEELS GO ROUND) (11/15/89)
We have several Mac IIs currently connected to our LAN via an EtherTalk Interface Card in each. We also have 2 LaserWriter II NTX printers connected to 2 different Macs. Does anyone know of a way to print on these printers, via the network, from a Mac that isn't directly connected to them? We do not have an AppleTalk Personal Network interconnecting these systems, just the LAN.
perry@key.COM (Perry The Cynic) (11/20/89)
In article <6645@dime.cs.umass.edu> rjudy@cs.umass.edu (WHEELS GO ROUND) writes: > We have several Mac IIs currently connected to our LAN via > an EtherTalk Interface Card in each. We also have 2 > LaserWriter II NTX printers connected to 2 different Macs. > Does anyone know of a way to print on these printers, via > the network, from a Mac that isn't directly connected to > them? We do not have an AppleTalk Personal Network > interconnecting these systems, just the LAN. What you have is three networks: an ethernet network (connecting all your Macs), and two (miniature) localtalk networks, each connecting one Mac and one Laserwriter. What you need is called a (network) bridge. Bridges come in two forms: hardware and software. A hardware bridge is a box connecting (in your case) an ethernet to a localtalk network. You would put your two printers together on one localtalk network, and hitch them onto the ethernet using this box. This is the optimal solution if your printing load is heavy (almost continuous printing). Several companies make these gadgets; our company has one Kinetics FastPath box, and we're reasonably satisfied with it. A software bridge is a program (usually an INIT) that turns a Mac into a bridge. You don't have to buy new hardware, but the Mac it's running on will naturally slow down somewhat. This is the better solution if your printers are used sporadically. My favorite software bridge is Liaison. In your case, I might note that using a software bridge won't require any hardware changes (no re-cabling). Also, if you put two copies of the bridge on the two Macs that have the printers, things will slow down only if ANOTHER Mac is printing to the printer. Depending on your usage patterns, this may or may not make a difference. On the other hand, a hardware bridge is probably better for future expansion. You don't say what LAN protocol you run on your ethernet. The above assumes that it's Ethertalk (i.e., Appletalk on ethernet). If that's not it, you have the additional burden of protocol translation. That would depend heavily on your particular configuration. -- perry -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Perry The Cynic (Peter Kiehtreiber) perry@arkon.key.com ** What good signature isn't taken yet? ** ...!pacbell!key!perry
rjudy@cs.umass.edu (WHEELS GO ROUND) (11/22/89)
Many thanks to all who responded. Please don't send any more responses to this request; We have an abundance of info from you all.