bj@ohsu470.ohsu.edu (Bill Jackson) (02/19/91)
Forgive me if this is an old or well known subject: I have a growing network of machines including many Macintoshes, and have been asked to provide centralised FAX services to these machines. I have come up with a couple of scenarios to accomplish this and wonder if I am heading in the right direction. If anyone has experiences in this area I would appreciate a mailing or posting as appropriate. Orchid FAX modem on Mac - just withdrawn! FAX/Data modem such as Prometheus Ultima on a Shiva Telebridge - have questions on this one like how would the modem be arbitrated correctly between FAX and DATA, send and receive. Is there some smart HW/SW combination that will work here? This seems like a highly desirable thing to do, so either somebody has done it or it is impossible!
tnixon@hayes.uucp (02/19/91)
In article <1991Feb19.015202.2758@ohsu.edu>, bj@ohsu470.ohsu.edu (Bill Jackson) writes: > I have a growing network of machines including many Macintoshes, and have been > asked to provide centralised FAX services to these machines. I haven't used it myself, but one solution to this problem is to use "FaxGate" from Solutions, Inc. I allows anyone on the network to send faxes. You must be using either Microsoft Mail 2.0 or QuickMail 2.2 to send the messages on the network. FaxGate runs in the background on the mail server. You have to have a BackFax-compatible fax modem (several different modems from various manufacturers will work). It costs $395 per server for the software. For information, call Solutions, Inc., P.O. Box 783, Williston VT 05495, voice 802-865-9220, fax 802-865-9220. -- Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-449-8791 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net
perl@PacBell.COM (Richard Perlman) (02/20/91)
In article <1991Feb19.015202.2758@ohsu.edu> bj@ohsu470.ohsu.edu (Bill Jackson) writes: >FAX/Data modem such as Prometheus Ultima on a Shiva Telebridge... >Is there some smart HW/SW combination that will work here? > >This seems like a highly desirable thing to do, so either somebody has done it >or it is impossible! Assuming you mean to use the Telebridge as a NetSerial to connect the serial Fax modem to the AppleTalk LAN... It is "highly desirable" and also won't work. FAX transmission is synchronous (and continous) there is no handshaking for flow control. If the fax transmission is interupted, as can happen on a network, the connection breaks. Early versions of the LightFax Netmodem (Computer Friends - (503) 626-2291) software spooled the "fax" from the user to an AppleShare or TOPS file server and then sent the fax from a separate "Fax Server" Mac. During transmission the "Fax" server read the fax from the file server. The scheme worked well for short one page faxes. But inevitably died before page two of longer faxes. Their new software copies the fax document in total to the "fax server" from the "file server" before transmission. -- "I will fight no more never again", Chief Joseph (of the Nez Pierce Indians) "In war there is no right side and no winning side", me -- Richard Perlman |*| perl@pbseps.pacbell.com |*| (415) 545-0233
jjwcmp@isc.rit.edu (Jeff Wasilko) (02/20/91)
We have a Cypress FaxPro on our network, and we've been pretty happy with it. It takes a differeent approach to network fax: The Fax server Mac has the modem directly attatched to it. The Fax clients generate a Fax bitmap file, and save it on a 'Fax Out' folder on a Tops or AppleShare volume with routing/transmission info. The Fax Server mac notices the fax file on the server, copies it to it's local disk, and sends it out. Multiple fax servers can watch the same folder if you have a large volume of fax traffic. I'm attaching a summary from a while ago... >From: barry@wolman.prime.com Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.comm Subject: Sharable FAX Modem Summary Message-ID: <108500003@wolman> Date: 11 Dec 90 03:02:00 GMT Lines: 202 Nf-ID: #N:wolman:108500003:000:9061 Nf-From: wolman.prime.com!barry Dec 10 22:02:00 1990 Several weeks ago I posted the following query regarding FAX modems: >We have an Appletalk network where a number of the users frequently send >FAXes. So far, the procedure has been to laser print the document to be >sent and then use a conventional FAX machine. I'd like to use a FAX >modem that can be shared by all users on the net; basically, I'd like to >"print" to the FAX modem. Receiving incoming FAXes is not a >requirement. > >I'm looking for feedback on FAX modems that come with a Chooser >selectable driver and don't require an email interface. Please send me >your experiences (good and bad); I'll post a summary. > This posting summarizes the responses I received. Due to Yet Another Reduction in Force at Prime Computer, I'm now looking for another job, so the answer to this question is now of academic interest only as far I'm personally concerned. I hope the rest of you still find the information useful. I received several responses that cited positive experiences with FaxGate Plus from Solutions, Inc. However, this requires that the outgoing FAX originate from an email package such as CE Software QuickMail or Microsoft Mail, which isn't the "chooser device" type of configuration I asked about. I also got a positive response regarding the Abaton Interface 24/96 FAX modem, but this isn't directly Appletalk sharable. Several responses cited positive experiences with the FaxPro modem from Cypress Research, which costs about $1000. For a net with > 4 users who often send FAXes, this would appear to be the most economical way to go since a non-sharable FAX modem costs about $250. If you already had an appropriate file sharing mechanism in place, e.g. Appleshare, TOPS, Public Folder, ...., and didn't mind the hassle of sending all FAXes from a single node, you probably could get by with a single FAX non-sharable FAX modem. My secretary wouldn't mind sending an occasional FAX, but would quickly get upset with having to send all department FAXes from her Mac, which is why a sharable modem or individual modems seems desirable. The 11/20 issue of MacWeek contained an ad from MacCorporate (part of MacWarehouse) for the Prometheus Products Network Maxfax. This $1069 unit appears similar to the FaxxPro described above. The FaxPro comes with software to manage cover sheets, distribution lists, delayed transmission, etc.; I wasn't able to ascertain what type of software comes with the Maxfax. Individual replies follow: ------------------------------ >From: bmug@garnet.berkeley.edu (BMUG) Organization: University of California, Berkeley I briefly tried out the FaxPro by Cypress Research (it has previously been well-reviewed in either PCWeek or PC Magazine -- can't remember which). It seems to work just fine. It's a 9600 baud networked faxmodem with a Chooser driver, networking software which runs either on top of AppleShare or by itself, address books, and a lot of other bells and whistles. It's main drawback (currently) seems to be that you can't make a default custom cover sheet, but I understand that's being worked on. Cypress has a 30 Net purchasing policy, so you can try one out and return it if you're not completely satisfied. It's also a little pricey at about $1000, but if you amortize the cost among several users, it's not too much. If you purchase one and use it a lot, I'd be interested in your evaluation. John Heckendorn ------------------------------ >From: rjb1@gte.com (Richard J. Brandau) In case you don't otherwise hear about this configuration, I'll tell you what we've recently done. Unfortunately, we're still getting the bugs out of it, so I don't have much experience with it. The FAX machine is a Canon 705 with an RS232 interface, AppleTalked via a Shiva NetSerial, and controlled by MacFacsimile S/W on the Macs. It's a nice setup, because the FAX remains usable as a regular FAX when no Macs are using it. MacFacsimile is not quite Chooser-selectable: A special Chooser device can be selected for printing, but it just generates a FAX-able document that can be sent from the MacFax application. Received (or scanned-in) documents can be transfered from the 705's memory to Mac files in PICT, Paint, TIFF (for OCR), or FAX-storage formats. Scheduled-send and multiple-recipient FAXs can be controlled from the S/W. (The bug I mentioned, by the way, is apparently due to our having somehow gotten a very old version of the Canon ROMs, which Canon will be replacing shortly.) Although this solution offers a number of advantages over the simple Dove NetFAX approach: a regular, walk-up-to-and-use FAX machine that can be used without a Mac, and the ability to use it as a 300dpi scanner, this is a relatively $pricey$ configuration. -- Rich Brandau ------------------------------ ------------------------------ >From: jjwcmp@ultb.isc.rit.edu (Jeff Wasilko) Organization: RIT Communications There is a fax modem called teh FaxPro that will do what you need. It has a fax modem that attaches to a machine that will be a server. Each user gets a chooser driver that deposits the fax image in a 'Fax Out' folder on the server with fax info. The server notices the Fax image, and sends it on its way. The modem doesn't place much load on the server machine since all rasterizing is done at the user's machine. There is some delay on the client during the end of each page due to some strict timing requirements). If you don't have a TOPS or AppleShare server, they also sell some server software tah will just serve faxes. The modem costs around $1000, and includes a site license for the user's software. If I can get you more info, let me know. I don't have anything to do with them other owning one. If you get me your fax number, I'll fax you a sample page. Jeff ------------------------------ >From: Jeff Wasilko <jjwcmp@ULTB.ISC.RIT.EDU> I haven't had any problems. We use ATM to generate the correct size bitmaps. The modem doesn't have any large bitmaps--they suggest getting the LQ fonts from your dealer. The only other real annoyance (and it's common to all fax modems) is that EPS art prints as a scaled bitmap, but what can you do unless you run a PS interpreter? I'll fax you a sampling of pages from a couple of documents--XPress with EPS art, MS Word, and maybe something from FileMaker. I'll try to send it out tomorrow, but I'm only working a 1/2 day (-; Jeff ------------------------------ >From: khaw@parcplace.com (Mike Khaw) The only one that exists now that I know of is Cypress Research's FaxPro modem and software. The modem is a 9600 bps FAX/ 2400 bps data modem. The software works over Localtalk (and is also supposed to work with TOPS and Novell), makes the modem look like a Chooser level printer on your network, and does not require email software. We're currently using one here. We have our Macs hooked up via a Cayman Gatorbox to our Sun ethernet. There is an Appleshare server on the net. The faxmodem hangs off a Mac II (not the Appleshare server). Most people send FAXes by printing from MS-Word. When you do that, your local copy of the FaxPro software copies a TIFF version of your Word doc. to a public folder on the Appleshare server. The FaxPro software on the modem-server periodically polls the folder on the file server and when it notices new faxes queued up, it copies them to a local folder on the fax-server and attempts to send them. FaxPro is designed to run in the background on the modem-server, but we noticed that it seemed to have hiccups if someone were actively using the modem-server Mac. We have not attempted to use FaxPro for incoming FAXes for a variety of reasons, including (a) we already have hardcopy FAX machines, (b) we've heard from a number of sources that incoming FAXes don't easily convert to machine-manipulable files (i.e., they are TIFF format bitmaps) and take a lot of disk space, and (c) FaxPro's facilities for routing received FAXes to the proper recipient appears to require quite a bit of manual intervention. The FaxPro software includes an application that lets you monitor the status of the FAX queues and send a FAX to multiple recipients, a DA to keep a directory of FAX numbers (like a simple Rolodex) and an INIT/CDEV and a Chooser document. List price is about $1000. FaxPro was reviewed in PC Week 5/28/90. Cypress Research Corp. 766 San Aleso Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94086 408/752-2700 fax: 408/745-7017 Disclaimer: I'm just a customer who uses FaxPro (still on a probationary basis. We haven't quite decided whether we're keeping it, but I think we're leaning in the "keep" direction). -- Mike Khaw ------------------------------ End of responses Barry ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Barry Wolman | barry@s66.prime.com ex-Principal Technical Consultant | 500 Old Connecticut Path Prime Computer | Framingham, MA 01701 | 508/620-2800, ext. 1100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article 4200 of comp.protocols.appletalk: Path: ulta!rit!rochester!udel!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hoptoad!tim >From: tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.appletalk Subject: Re: FAX modems on AppleTalk Message-ID: <12359@hoptoad.uucp> Date: 14 Sep 90 08:04:11 GMT References: <3D34F79BCEBF200C36@mbcl.rutgers.edu> Reply-To: tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney) Organization: Electronics for Imaging, San Bruno CA Lines: 17 There is the Cypress networked fax modem. Since it works over AppleShare or TOPS, requiring the client to mount a remote volume, the ordinary password protection mechanisms in those products can be used to restrict mounting. At present, all faxes go into a common reception area, which can either be public or restricted. Future versions will allow personal routing of incoming faxes. Cypress is in Sunnyvale, California, at (408) 745-7150. Disclaimer: I wrote a lot of the software for this modem and retain a commercial interest in it. (That doesn't change the fact that it really is quite good.) -- Tim Maroney, Mac Software Consultant, sun!hoptoad!tim, tim@toad.com "There are no Famous People on the net. Only some of us with bigger mouths than others." -- Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, The Roach -- | RIT VAX/VMS Systems: | Jeff Wasilko | RIT Ultrix Systems: | |BITNET: jjwcmp@ritvax +----------------------+ INET:jjwcmp@ultb.isc.rit.edu| |INTERNET: jjwcmp@ritvax.rit.edu |____UUCP:jjwcmp@ultb.UUCP____| |'claimer: I speak only for myself. Opinions expressed are NOT those of RIT.|
tnixon@hayes.uucp (02/20/91)
In article <1991Feb19.184801.27124@PacBell.COM>, perl@PacBell.COM (Richard Perlman) writes: > In article <1991Feb19.015202.2758@ohsu.edu> bj@ohsu470.ohsu.edu > (Bill Jackson) writes: >>FAX/Data modem such as Prometheus Ultima on a Shiva Telebridge... >>Is there some smart HW/SW combination that will work here? >> >>This seems like a highly desirable thing to do, so either somebody has done it >>or it is impossible! > > Assuming you mean to use the Telebridge as a NetSerial to connect the > serial Fax modem to the AppleTalk LAN... It is "highly desirable" and > also won't work. FAX transmission is synchronous (and continous) there > is no handshaking for flow control. If the fax transmission is > interupted, as can happen on a network, the connection breaks. Your are correct that FAX transmission is synchronous -- ON THE PHONE LINE. All existing fax modems, however, connect to the PC or Mac _asynchronously_, _with flow control_. The data rate is run at higher than the line rate, usually 19200bps async, to allow for the stripping of start and stop bits. Flow control is used to prevent the PC from overrunning the modem's transmit buffer. If the delivery of data from the PC to the modem is delayed (either because of slow software on the PC, interrupt latency or multitasking delays, or even network loading), the modem can insert fill bits (zeros) before any end-of-line sequence in the fax transmission to allow time for the PC to catch up again (all fax modems I'm familiar with do this); you can send up to five seconds of fill bits without disturbing the transmission or violating Group 3 specs. Reception is a bit more problematical -- if the PC flows off the modem for too long, you WILL lose data since no fax modem has an infinite receive buffer, but they do general have sufficient buffer to handle an interruption of many seconds (since the data is only coming in at a rate of about 1K per second), and since the interface is running at usually at least twice the speed of the phone line, the PC can catch up quickly. I think it is quite possible to use a fax modem through an async server across a network. Async-to-sync conversion, buffering, flow control, running at higher than the line speed, and the ability to use fill bits make it much easier than it might appear at first glance. -- Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net