Info-3b2 Digest, Volume 57

[Info-3b2 Mailer]

                           Info-3b2 Digest, Number 57
 
                           Friday, February 10th 1989
 
Today's Topics:
 
                                Re: 3BNET & PC's
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From: hoptoad!quaduk!qukmips!lamc.UUCP!To:info-3b2
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 89 14:27:59 GMT
Subject: Re: 3BNET & PC's

I would have got this out faster, but UI have moved my mail to another
machine and it has taken me a while to get Elm running properly (the
problem turned out not to be Elm in fact but sendmail - solution junk
sendmail and stick to smail)

> 
> I'm getting ready to buy a 3BNET Ethernet card for our 3B2 to network with
> several MS-DOS PC's, initially using TCP/IP, later NFS.  I have a couple
> of questions for those using the 3BNET stuff in this kind of environment.
> 
> 	I'm assuming the 3BNET is thinwire (coax), is this right?
> 
No, the 3BNET card comes out to a 15 pin D-type connector that needs to be
plugged into a transceiver. If you are going to be using a large number of
boards which require tranceivers, and if you can locate them close together
then you will find it cheaper to buy a fan out unit which will has 8 D
connectors for tranceiver drop cables and one D-connector for a drop cable
to a tranceiver on the net. We run with a mixture of tranceivers and a fan
out unit, but except for the machine room all the cabling is thinwire, we
just use an adaptor on the tranceiver to drop down to the right size.

> 	What exactly does the 3BNET software that I have to buy with
> 	the card do for me?
> 
> 	Sources for TCP/IP for the 3B2? (Wollongong, Lachman, etc.)
> 
> Practical experiences, problems, successes, etc. are welcome.
> 
With our cards, we originally got the NI driver and the Wollongong TCP/IP.
Although we could get the NI drivers to talk to each other we were never
able to get the TCP/IP to talk to anything else. Eventually after about two
weeks of trying on our own we went back to Olivetti (who supply 3B's over
here), who said "Well, it's working here", so we went down there and tried
it, and lo and behold it failed to work there. Olivetti then made us a Beta
site for SpiderTCP from Spider Systems. This replaced both the NI driver
software and the TCP/IP. We loaded the disks, rebooted the machine et
voila, immediately our 3B's were talking to everything else on the net.

I can whole heartedly recommend this implementation, it worked first time
and has continued to work, what more can you ask of a bit of software.

Unfortunately, when I looked in the manual for details on where to find
Spider Systems it just says to contact British Olivetti.

In the United Kingdom Spider Systems are in Scotland (Edinburgh I think),
but I don't know if they are anywhere else.

If you want to know more and can't find them, and no one else know's (too
many no's :-) ) where they are, mail me because there is an exhibiton
coming up in a few weeks time which I think they will be at so I can go
find them then.

I hope this has been of some use.

Graham

--

Graham Glen
Quadratron Systems (UK) Ltd.

Voice:	+44 1 371 5755	Fax: +44 1 736 1071	Telex: 267500 LIBORG G
	+44 836 380006 (mobile)

{quad1,qnorth,qswiss,ukc,attunix!uel}!quaduk!graham

 
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