francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) (06/10/91)
Is there a currently defined protocol for making AppleTalk connections over IP? Any software that does it? What I'm envisioning is a setup where you have a router making an AppleTalk zone connection/bridge/whatever they call it across the Internet. There'd be 2 basic kinds: the kind that's a dedictated installation (a piece of hardware connected to an AT net and to the Internet), and the kind that would be just a program running on a Mac with Internet access, relaying AT packets between the AT net it was on and a similar router at the other end. Of course, you'd want password protection in most cases, but not necessarily. For example, you could set a folder to guest-readable, plop some files into it, fire up the bridge program, let guests connect to your net, and have an AppleTalk version of an FTP site--the advantages being that the stuff wouldn't have to be BinHexed, so bandwidth would be conserved & people could get it without having to have BinHex (thus answering the question "How do I get BinHex without BinHex?"). It would also make it easier for organizations to set up wide-area AT nets: instead of installing all the connecting hardware themselves, they could get Internet access from a commercial provider & connect their Macs with that. Anybody working on something like this? Note: this posting contains nothing but my own mad ravings. I am not in a position to purchase (or recommend the purchase of) such a product; I simply thought this would be a good thing for the Macfolk on the Net. -- /============================================================================\ | Francis Stracke | My opinions are my own. I don't steal them.| | Department of Mathematics |=============================================| | University of Chicago | Until you stalk and overrun, | | francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu | you can't devour anyone. -- Hobbes | \============================================================================/