Newsgroups: bit.listserv.big-lan
Date:         Tue, 7 Apr 1992 14:17:15 EST
From:         BIG-REQ@SUVM.BITNET
Subject:      BIG-LAN Digest, Volume 4, Number 22, Tuesday, April 7, 1992

BIG-LAN DIGEST            Tuesday, 7 April 1992        Volume 4 : Issue 22

Today's Topics:

                         Printing Charges on LAN
                Additional Mactivity 92 info & correction
              RE: Additional Mactivity 92 info & correction
                     "Copper" TDR on a PC card needed
                        Debugging ethernets . . .
           Nice small DBMS for administering Campus-sized LANs.

Moderated by John Wobus, Syracuse University

Relevant addresses:
                                  Internet               BITNET
Submissions:            big-lan@suvm.acs.syr.edu      BIG-LAN@SUVM
Subscriptions:  big-lan-request@suvm.acs.syr.edu      BIG-REQ@SUVM
LISTSERV:              listserv@suvm.acs.syr.edu     LISTSERV@SUVM
Moderator:              jmwobus@suvm.acs.syr.edu      JMWOBUS@SUVM

Note: BIG-LAN is redistributed through many mailing lists at other
sites run by other individuals.  If you subscribe(d) through such
a "redistribution" list, you will need to remember its owner.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:         Fri, 03 Apr 92 13:10:17 CST
From:         Paul Koch <BSEN046@UNLVM>
Subject:      Printing Charges on LAN

A local consultant referred me to BIG-LAN regarding the following
concern.  Kindly post, if suitable.  Thank you.

A microcomputer lab is supported by our department but is open to
anyone on campus.  The lab has a PC printserver and a laser
printer.  We would like to control printing costs.  I am looking
for general recommendations on how best to do this.

I have seen other labs use a card reader, but I am told that
they are costly ($1000?), and occasionally cards get damaged.
I'd appreciate other comments about this hardware.

Is there a software product which can be used on a printserver
which controls printing by requiring a password and then keeps
track of pages printed per password?

Please reply to:
Paul Koch
BSEN046@UNLVM.BITNET

-------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 3 Apr 92 16:02:17 PST
From: Morris Balamut <@hac2arpa.hac.com:balamut@morris.hac.com>
Subject:      Additional Mactivity 92 info & correction

Here is some additional information about Mactivity INCLUDING
the CORRECT email address for mactivity.

- ------------------------------------------------------------

Mactivity will be held at The Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa
Clara, California (USA).

Here are the price breakdowns (prices in the parantheses are the
early-bird prices, if you register by May 31, 1992):

    Full Mactivity Package   $1,195 ($1,095)
      (includes full-day seminar on Monday, three-day
        conference, & exposition)
    Three-day Conference & Exposition  $895 ($795)
    One-day Seminar Only   $445 ($395)
    Exposition Only    $20 ($ 0)

Plus, you have to figure in lodging and travel arrangements, which
Winehouse negotiates special discounts for.  Contact Winehouse for
information.

As I understand it hey had over 3,000 participants at last year's
conference,  from all over the U.S. and Canada.

For more information and a free conference brochure, contact:

Paul Kent
Winehouse Computer Company
20 N Santa Cruz Avenue
Los Gatos, CA  95030

800 798-2928
Fax 408 354-2571

E-Mail: AppleLink = mactivity@applelink.apple.com
            AOL = AppleTalk

-------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 3 Apr 92 16:39:13 PST
From: Morris Balamut <@hac2arpa.hac.com:balamut@morris.hac.com>
Subject:      RE: Additional Mactivity 92 info & correction

Mactivity will be held at The Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa
Clara, California (USA).

The dates are Tuesday July 14 through Thursday July 16 and
the One-day seminar is on Monday July 13.

-------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1992 08:10:10 GMT
From: kev@sol.acs.unt.edu (Kevin W. Mullet)
Subject:      "Copper" TDR on a PC card needed

We use an optical TDR-on-a-card in a laptop to help maintain our fiber
plant.  What I'd really like to have is a regular ("copper") TDR-on-a-card
to put in one of our other laptops (full-size card would do) to help
maintain our DTP,RG/58 and RG/62 plants.

Does anyone know if such a thing exists and where I can look for more
information?

Thanks in advance,
- -Kevin Mullet
 University of North Texas

-------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Apr 92 17:22:00 CDT
From: scsabir@tvgurus.hdtv.zenithe.com (Andrew Birner)
Subject:      Debugging ethernets . . .

 Novell's LANalyzer product claims to be able to see non-traffic noise; I don't
know whether the Network General Sniffer can make the same claim.  None of the
generic packages that use standard PC NICs can do this; it takes special hard-
ware.  The LANalyzer can also distinguish local and remote collisions.
 A TDR (Time Domain Reflectometer) sends out a pulse and measures the reflected
energy; given the NVP (nominal velocity of propagation) for the medium, it can
tell you the distance to any impedence discontinuity (e.g. the end of the
 cable,
a BNC-T, a piece of RG-58 that some &*(&(** put in your net, etc.) that
 reflects
the pulse.  It's a VERY useful gadget to have on hand.  A packaged cable tester
is basically a TDR with a front-end to interpret the pulse reflections; these
work well for simple problems (e.g. a clean break) but are easily fooled by
 more
complex situations (such as the clown we found who had tapped an FM radio
 anten-
na into our ethernet--he thought it was an RF line).

- - Andrew E. Birner, Zenith Electronics Corporation -

-------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 07 Apr 92 13:18:57 -0400
From: "John M. Wobus" <jmwobus@mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject:      Nice small DBMS for administering Campus-sized LANs.

Administering a campus-sized LAN involves keeping track of lots of
equipment and people.  I have been buried in networking so long I know
little about DBMS applications, and which ones would be most helpful to
help keep track of such things.  I know some network management
packages will interface with databases or include some database
support, but in some cases I don't think the vendors idea of what we
need to track matches our own idea of what we need to track.

Can anyone volunteer a plug for any DBMSs that have been proven to be
convenient for managing a campus net?  Our own needs would be for
handling just a few databases of a few thousand records, making them
available to probably fewer than eight people, but people who use
different platforms.  War stories about campus net administrators'
other solutions to the problem also welcome.

Please feel free to post answers directly to BIG-LAN which is not
overcrowded with e-mail traffic,  but I will post a summary of any
answers mailed directly to me.

John Wobus
Syracuse University
jmwobus@mailbox.syr.edu

-------------------------------------------------------


End of BIG-LAN Digest
*********************
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU