From: throop@wilder.com (Throop Wilder)
Subject: Re: Likewise net software from Apple
Organization: Wilder Systems/Trik
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 17:12:51 GMT

In article <1992Sep10.031404.7606@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> Mark.R.Valence@dartmouth.edu (Mark R. Valence) writes:
[stuff deleted]

>> > I read that Apple have released a network updating program for
>> >maintaining computers in labs etc. I think it was called "Likewise". The
>> >
>> Yes, it is much different. It is not as smart as other programs. It only does
>> one thing - it copies an entire directory (folder or disk) to all clients,
>> replacing any old version. Its advantage over other programs is that it will
>> update all clients at the same time.
>> 
>> It does this by using AppleTalk broadcasts. This is good in an isolated
>> classroom, since it saves time. This is bad in a big AppleTalk network, because
>> it eats so much bandwidth.
>> David Gutierrez
>
>Er, not really.  Actually, its use of broadcasts actually LIGHTENS the
>load on
>the network, with respect to the direct-addressed packet schemes.  It
>does,
>however cause each Mac on the "target" network to service an
>ever-so-minor
>interrupt not a real problem.
>
>Think about it:  to broadcast this information to 20 macs on a network
>requires
>one broadcast packet, OR requires 20 direct-address packets.

......[more stuff deleted]
>
>The down sides to using Likewise on a larger net are (in my opinion):
>
>1) no fault recovery.  Likewise does not care whether or not the

......[more stuff deleted]
>
>2) Likewise cannot use the benefits of broadcast packets on more than
>one network

.....[more stuff deleted]
>
>Buy NetDistributor or one of its competitors.  You get what you pay
>for.
>
>Mark.
>

Since we make NetDistributor we have found this conversation quite
interesting and thought we might provide some background on Likewise.

Likewise was originally written at Apple Europe and (ironically from 
our point of view) called TRICK for Training Resource Interface
Construction Kit. It was intended solely for classroom use (and even
had a temporary name of Class Reunion at one point).  As the other
writers have pointed out, it is indeed broadcast based for faster
network transmission.  It is really not that well suited for non-classroom
use for several reasons, some of which were mentioned above. For
example, you have to boot the clients off a floppy and run an
application on that floppy which listens for the broadcasts. This
means visiting each machine. Second, and this is the biggest problem
for non-classroom use, the broadcast-based transmission method
makes work on any Mac which is attached to the same wire as the 
sending and receiving Macs impossible. This is because the network
is being flooded with broadcasts. Every one of these has to be 
serviced by _every_ Mac on the wire. I know this because I have
tried to use a Mac on the same wire and it is simply impossible.

Likewise is, however, a great product if you want to set up 
20 or 30 macs from scratch and have them on a bench in front
of you or in a classroom where you can easily run around and
boot them off floppies etc. Because it is relatively inexpensive
we believe it makes a good companion product to ours (and
our competitors). But it is important to realize what its
primary intended use is.

Throop