Ethernet for IBM machines

[BostonU SysMgr]

From: James Matheson <jmrm%digsys.engineering.cambridge.ac.uk at UCL-CS.ARPA>
Message-Id: <8507110834.AA25849 at uk.ac.cam.eng-dsl>
Subject: Ethernet for IBM machines

>Does anyone know of any products or have any experience of connecting an IBM
>system (specifically a 4341 running VM/CMS) via Ethernet to VAXen running
>4.2 BSD. I have heard that there is IBM Ethernet hardware for the Series 1
>which could be used a front end but know nothing about what software may be
>available.
>
>Please send any info to jmrm%cam.cl at ucl-cs.arpa
>Thanks in advance.

Yes, we are experimenting with two products at Boston University:
WISCNET from University of Wisconsin (available via IBM I believe)
which uses a DACU (Device Access Control Unit: attaches together a
piece of DD11-CK Unibus backplane and a bus and tag channel into
which you plug an interlan board, it has an IBM/PC for 'control'.)
We are also playing with another implementation of TCP/IP from
Spartacus (Cambridge, MA) which has their own (K200) box for attaching
and ethernet to an IBM channel.

The WiscNet seems to be quite good, we get a *lot* of use around campus
from their SMTP. File transfers seem to be limited in speed by the
remote machines (eg. VAX->IBM is about the same or better than VAX->VAX)

We haven't enough experience yet with Spartacus to comment tho I hear
it's good (glak, for another reason we have a hacked VM and its slowing
down installation...our fault.)

This is all on an IBM3081, but 43x1's are a more typical configuration.

	-Barry Shein, Boston University