From: jim@tiamat.fsc.com ( IT Manager)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.nfs
Subject: Re: What are the advantages and disadvantages of B+Wnfs v
Date: 28 Sep 92 16:22:42 GMT
Organization: Ahlstrom Filtration - Chattanooga,TN

In article <717371306snx@aurora.f109f.mil.se>, nils@aurora.f109f.mil.se (Nils Hammar) writes:
> 
> In article <3789@tiamat.fsc.com> jim@tiamat.fsc.com writes:
> 
>   >         The PD interface to a XIRCOM works well here.  The docs could have
>   >         been a little better on this point (actually, they could be alot
>   >         better on ALL points), but it all works, and that's what's important.
> 
> What about compatibility with MS-Windows? It's a really important part
> nowadays, that I will be able to log in and out and mount/dismount
> various resources on the net without leaving windows

Personally, I can't speak much on this, since we do all of our network
setup (hopefully transparently to the user) from AUTOEXEC.BAT and don't run
the B&W Windows driver so that the user can't get things mucked up by
mounting/unmounting with File Manager (I can just see all the support calls
when a user unmounts N: with File Manager and then wonders why everything
quit working :-).

>   >         Somehow I doubt any pricipal employee from Sun would ever contact
>   >         me directly.  I have, however, received mail from Mr. Whiteside.
>   >         Turned out to be very useful mail, at that.
> 
> What about support outside the US?

I would suppose e-mail would be very usefult to those outside the U.S., and
since B&W is actually in Canada, I guess they do support "outside their
country" quite a bit.

> That's interesting!

And extremely useful.  We're about to demo Co/Session Net II (or something
like that) which the ads say work with FTP TCP/IP.  If this turns out to
work as advertised with B&W and their FTP API it could change my whole
opinion of DOS boxes on my network.

>   >         My only wish here would be to specify either the entire Unix command
>   >         that gets the print job, at least option to an 'lp' command, at the
>   >         time the "net link lpt1: etc" command is run.  There are several
>   >         features I could offer my users if this flexibility existed.
> 
> What I want is a printout that is activated after say ten to twenty seconds
> after the last character transmitted to the printer from the application.

This can be dependent at times on the application.  E.g. we have some
completely ignorant applications, that no matter what network software I've
used, will only flush output to a redirected printer by exiting the program.
Other programs will flush output after pressing a key (I think there's
some interrupt routine in DOS that is executed on each key press, so if you
don't press any keys, the routine doesn't get executed).  Some programs
can be "tricked" by "printing to a DOS file" and then giving "LPT1.PRN" as
the file name, and the program will be nice and "close" the file after
printing, which will flush the print job.  Why programs won't "close" the
printer, I just don't understand.  Writing network-ignorant applications
should be "a hanging offense" these days.  We even have one program (which
we can't get out of using) that ONLY sends output to the hardware - it
bypasses DOS completely *as its only means of printing*.  In these cases,
there is nothing the network software can do to help, all we can do is
to bitch at the program writers.

> I don't have any opinion yet, since I am using PC-NFS.

At the time I had to make my decision, I didn't even evaluate PC-NFS in
person, since according to price info I had it would have been significantly
more expensive than B&W.

------------- 
James B. O'Connor                                     jim@tiamat.fsc.com
Information Technology Manager                        voice 615/821-4022 x651
Ahlstrom Filtration, Inc.                             fax   615/821-0616
=========
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Newsgroups: comp.protocols.nfs