DECnet for Amiga
8 messages in this thread
I suppose you will do whatever suits your needs. Does "do it through the
bridgeboard side" mean that the network will look like another drive on the
Amiga, will you even have access through the Amiga side? I imagine that you
could just run Novell or 3com, or whatever on the DOS side just by plugging
it in, I don't know though, haven't tried it.
Well, part of what's going on has to do with time. I had my 2500/30
delivered today. I want it on the network within the week.
We KNOW that an NI5210 will work in an AT on the net we have, and the
Novell net we are migrating to starting in March.
We KNOW that the Amiga side and the AT side can trade data. In fact, ifI'm
remembering this correctly, Tom Holaday currently has his 68030 Amiga with
AT Bridge using AREXX to query the AT port to see if it needs sometime
about once a minute (Tom, correct me if I'm wrong on that). This leads to
some interesting possibilities.
We KNOW that the Amiga and AT sides can share a hard drive, keyboard, NEC
3D, and mouse.
We KNOW that the AT can be running on a separate screen, and that I can
flip back and forth between the platforms with a Left Amiga-M and N combo
(I have already done this).
So, we are going with the ethernet on the AT side for now. Later on, maybe
we'll switch it to the Amiga side. With over a hundred ATs on this net,
and more to come, they won't have wasted the money on the NI5210. OTOH,
maybe we'll put both sides on the ethernet later. Or, maybe we'll stay
where we are.
Check back in a week, and I'll be able to tell you how well it works!
Ray Lewis
I've heard rooomers about Novell support coming soon for the Amiga. Can't
remember where I heard it though, and don't remember how they were going to
do it. -BOB- 🙂
It's not really a rumor, it's been shown. Oxxi had been working on it for
a while, but there appears to be some kind of deal struck between them and
Commodore, too. CBM's had an ARCnet board in the works for some time. At
first, it will use ARCnet cards, and require a PC-based server. Amigas can
only function as nodes, not servers, so you'll need to have a $6K-plus
server to link Amigas together with it.
My understanding was the Commodore is doing the hardware, Oxxi the
software.
— Ethan
Well that doesn't sound so great, I use Novell at work (along with NFS and
DECnet) and compared to those Novell isn't a "real" network. I much prefer
the ENLAN network from Interworks, where any and every computer can be a
server just by running FAL (in the background of course). Also it doesn't
require any special hardware (like a PeeCee or VAX, or even a network
board). Of course for those people who already have Novell installations it
will be great. -BOB- 🙂
But ENLAN isn't shipping, right? Perhaps you didn't notice, but I'm from
Syndesis Corporation, the people who make TSSnet, yet another DECnet for
the Amiga. So of course, I much prefer TSSnet. As I understand it, you'll
need a network board if you want to run more than two Amigas together,
unless you have a multi-port VAX around the house. Unless you've found
some other magic way to connect these Amigas. It sounds like you're
running over the serial port. Do you think it's practical to consider your
Amiga a "server" if you're serving up files out the back at what, 20K baud
speeds? That's slower than a floppy. I think people will prefer network
boards.
It's not a rumor. CBM is working on it. I believe I heard that a demo has
already been made somewhere. But what I also heard was the something
compatible with DECNet would be first, then Novell for Arcnet, and then
finally, Novell for ethernet. The last part is rumor. The info that CBM
is working on Novell specifically, and networking in general, is, I
believe, fact. When, exactly what, and how much, however, are not known.
Ray Lewis