From: alex@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Alex Pournelle)
Subject: Re: W4Wg vs. ARCnet vs. NetWare?
Organization: College Park Software, Altadena, CA
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 01:37:17 GMT

alex@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Alex Pournelle) writes:

>I've sent a note to Microsoft about this subject but haven't heard back
>yet (not surprising, since their FAX and letter unit is quite slow).
>Basically, my question is, can NetWare 2.x and Windows for Workgroups
>coexist on top of an ARCnet network?  The W4Wg manual says no, but I've
>also hear that W4Wg doesn't coexist with NetWare properly anyway, so I
>thought I'd get everyone's experience.


And this might help (thanks, Nathan!):

It's my understanding that ARCnet is not supported because its
protocol stack does not separate the Data Link Layer into LLC and MAC
sublayers.  It is precisely this that allows the NDIS drivers to
support multiple protocols on a single card.

>What kind of performance hit are you taking by running W4Wg vs. W3.1?

Windows itself runs just as fast on my 386/40.  If there is a
performance hit, it's the lackluster network performance.  W4Wg is
not as fast as Novell.  Fortunately, most of my access is to our
Novell network; I use the W4Wg network mainly to share printers and a
CD-ROM drive (which is slow anyways).

For what it's worth, W4Wg is decent for *small* networks and for
minimal peripheral sharing on larger networks.  And yes, it is a shame
that Microsoft hasn't found some way for ARCnet to run both NetWare
and W4Wg simultaneously.

For your reading enjoyment, I've attached the "official" Microsoft
explanation from the W4Wg resource kit.

        Nathan

 ########## FROM W4WG RESOURCE KIT, PAGE 8-17 ##########
ARCNET SUPPORT

The Microsoft version of IPX (MSIPX) supports the Token Ring and
Ethernet (both DIX and IEEE 802.2/IEEE 802.3) MAC media header
formats.  It does not, however, support the ArcNet media header
format.  Because of the differences in how NetBEUI and MSIPX transmit
on ArcNet media, Windows for Workgroups and NetWare client software
cannot share the same ArcNet network adapter card.  An explanation of
the differences is described in the following paragraphs.

When an ArcNet card is used with Windows for Workgroups, the NDIS
driver claims to be an Ethernet DIX+802.3 MAC and encapsulates a
transport's request to send Ethernet packets in ArcNet packets.  The
ArcNet NDIS driver presents itself as an Ethernet driver to the
transport and actually transmits the Ethernet headers across the
network.  The driver constructs a fake Ethernet address by putting the
ArcNet card's address in the lower byte of the Ethernet address.

Ethernet multi-casts are emulated by performing ArcNet broadcasts.
This allows Windows for Workgroups to run cleanly over ArcNet.

However, when an ArcNet card is used in a NetWare environment, the
IPX.COM driver generates packets in a proprietary form--a general
description of the algorithm used can be found in a supplement to the
"Novell LAN Drivers Developers Guide."

For additional information, consult the "3Com/Microsoft LAN Manager
Network Driver Interface Specification Version 2.0.1," and the 
"Novell Standard Microsystems ArcNet Supplement" (a supplement to
the "Novell LAN Drivers Developers Guide").
 ########## END QUOTE ##########

 -----------------------------------------------------
| Nathan Silva               |                        |
| nathans@pacifier.rain.com  | Is my 486 a "Quadium"? |
 -----------------------------------------------------

-- 
		Alex Pournelle, freelance thinker
		Also: Workman & Associates, Data recovery for PCs, Macs, others
		...elroy!grian!alex; voice: (818) 791-7979
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Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.misc