brahms@NECAM.tdd.sj.nec.com (George Skillman) (11/30/90)
I'm writing a paper comparing UNIX LANs (NFS/RFS - TCP/IP) with OS/2 LAN Manager. I know enough at the application and programmer level to do a decent comparison but don't know much about the underlying protocols which LAN Manager uses. I do know a little about NetBIOS (network control blocks and all that) but aren't there any error checking protocols and possibly multiple-layers of protocols similar to the ISO model? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. George Skillman NEC America (408) 433-2921 brahms@tdd.sj.nec.com
levine@dg-rtp.dg.com (Larry Levine) (12/04/90)
You might want to cross post articles like this to comp.dcom.lans... Here are bits and pieces of what you are asking for. If you would like further details on any of this, just followup... LM uses a protocol called Server Message Block (SMB). There are various "levels" of SMB that are supported by various products from various vendors. MSNET, LM, LM/X, AT&T, 3Com, MS, (DG). In short, they all provide different levels of file/print/ipc services and are compatible with each other. LM uses the NetBIOS INTERFACE. NetBIOS, in itself, is just an interface. It does not define the underlying transport protocol. IBM has de facto defined it with their NetBEUI (NetBIOS Extended User Interface) protocol that runs over Token Ring (usually). There are other protocols, however, that support NetBIOS primitives. Some of the more well-known are: RFC 1001/1002 NetBIOS over TCP/IP TOP/NetBIOS NetBIOS over ISO NetBEUI IBM NetBIOS Some others include... Novell NetBIOS emulation NetBIOS over IPX 3COM NBP Skinny NetBIOS (lean and mean but proprietary). Many other vendors also have proprietary NetBIOS products too. In general, most of the products can be found under DOS, OS/2 and various flavors of Unix. I don't know of a 3COM NBP implementation under Unix however. Good luck! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Larry Levine / levine@slimer.webo.dg.com Data General Corporation, Westboro, MA Standard disclaimers apply. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
larryha@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Larry Hattery) (12/06/90)
LAN Manager from Microsoft includes three protocol layers under NETBIOS NDIS at the wire provides the MAC layer - whether ethernet or token-ring. DLC sits above NDIS to provide the LLC layer. NETBEUI sits above DLC to provide the Network...Session Layers SMB sits above NETBEUI to provide the system services. All these protcols are defined in documents available from Microsoft, IBM, or 3Com.