Newsgroups: bit.listserv.big-lan
Date:         Fri, 20 Nov 1992 12:58:19 EST
From:         BIG-REQ@SUVM.BITNET
Subject:      BIG-LAN Digest, Volume 4, Number 78, Friday, November 20, 1992

BIG-LAN DIGEST           Friday, 20 November 1992      Volume 4 : Issue 78

Today's Topics:

                     TCP/IP Name Servers for Big LANs
                               10baseT hubs
                            50u vs 62.5u fiber
                       FDDI multi-protocol routers
                         Re: Question on routing

Moderated by John Wobus, Syracuse University

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

Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 7:33:59 EST
From: scoggin@blackhole.delmarva.COM
Subject:      TCP/IP Name Servers for Big LANs

> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 20:25:29 EST
> From: Leavitt <research@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
> Subject:      TCP/IP Name Servers for Big LANs
>
>
> This message is relayed from a colleague without Internet access.
>
> She works for a large government agency that is, like many others,
 introducing
> TCP/IP protocols into an existing IBM SNA and NETBIOS LAN environment.  They
> are in the process of installing IBM's TCP/IP software on MVS and VM
 mainframes
> and will be evaluating TCP/IP software for OS/2 and DOS+Windows.  Usage of
> TCP/IP is expected to grow slowly, but an eventual population of 10,000
> machines is planned, mostly IBM-compatibles with pockets of Macs, Sun
> SPARCstations, and DEC VAXen.
>
> At an INTEROP tutorial on Internet Naming and Directory Services the
 instructor
> and several attendees said that 486-based machines would be adequate for Name
> Servers.  The locally supported product list includes 486-based IBM and Dell
> PCs.  The first guess at a reasonable hardware/software configuration is
 either
>    IBM PS/2 mod 95 with AIX, or
>    Dell 450SE with SCO Unix 3.2.4 or AT&T Unix System V rel 4.
>
> Her office is short on Unix expertise and is looking for the simplest way to
>  get
> started.  The Dell machines are less expensive and Dell will preload the Unix
> and related software in the factory.
>
> She requests advice, based on experience please, with any or all of these,
> particularly in a heterogeneous environment.
>
> Question:  If she goes with Dell, which Unix is better, SCO or AT&T?
>
> Is there any optional software that should be ordered?  Dell comes with a
>  bunch,
> but IBM is less bundled.
>
> How much memory should be ordered?  (It's administratively easier to order up
> front rather than add later on.)
>
> How big should the hard drives be?  Is there any advantage to having more
 than
> one physical hard drive per machine?
>
> If the answer to the basic Dell vs IBM question is "neither," what would you
> recommend?
>
> Mike Leavitt <research@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
>
> P.S.  I know this is not exactly this list's focus, if there is a better
 place
> to send the message, I'd appreciate any pointers.  Many thanks.
>

We use a pair of little Dell 316sx (386sx, 16MHz) running FTP Software's
PC-BIND Software.  It runs under MS-DOS!  No *nix experience needed.  We have
40 MB hard drives that are more than adequate.  Runs real well - 0 failures.
It's a lot more straightforward than firing up DNS on a Sun - we have 2 of
these Dell/PC-BIND systems for our INTERNAL DNS.  We have a firewall based
on a Sun IPC and an anonymous FTP server running on a Dell 386/20 with SunSoft/
Interactive Unix.  The externally accessable DNS service runs on these two
systems...

        - John

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

Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 9:15:29 EST
From: symbi1!aem@uunet.UU.NET (a.e.mossberg)
Reply-To: symbi1!aem@uunet.UU.NET
Subject:      10baseT hubs

We're looking at several standalong SNMP-compatible 10baseT hubs, such
as the ones from Cabletron, Chipcom, and Black Box, and I would
appreciate any comments on these or other products.  The key criteria in
our selection are 12 ports (or more) in RJ45 connectors,
SNMP-manageable, AUI connector for network, and under $2,000.

Also, we're looking at various chassis units, such as the Cabletron MMAC
system, the Xyplex 9000, the Bytex 7700, and the Chipcom Online. I'd
like to hear from anyone who has the products in a TCP/IP to 10baseT and
fiber environment as to how their performance has been, both the
equipment and service/support, and especially any problems that have
appeared.

Please reply to me at aem@symbiosis.ahp.com, and I'll summarize to the
digest in a week or so.

*
andrew mossberg           systems specialist           symbiosis corporation
(305) 597-4110            fax (305) 597-4002           miami, florida
 33166-6202
aem@symbiosis.ahp.com     uunet!symbi1!aem             SPAN: UMIGW::AEM

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

Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 13:26:43 EST
From: Mark H Pearson <markp@EARLHAM.BITNET>
Reply-to: markp@EARLHAM.BITNET
Subject:      50u vs 62.5u fiber

We have the opportunity to obtain some 50u multimode fiber very cheap which
may be enough to cover our complete campus. My question is whether we would
be cutting our throats in doing this. Does existing comms equipment work
just as well with 50 as with the current standard 62.5u? Looking to the
future, would we be cutting ourselves off from using FDDI or ATM, or is
there sufficient 50u fiber already laid that these transports would be
designed to work with such stuff?
Mark Pearson
Academic Computing Coordinator
Earlham College Richmond IN 47374
Mail      : markp@yang.earlham.edu
NeXT mail : markp@cranham.cc.earlham.edu

Personnel & Training Manager Gwen Clark explained: "We aim to recruit
upper quartile management and staff and have a compensation architecture
in place to reward them accordingly"

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

Date: 20 Nov 1992 17:49:17 +1100
From: David Morrison <SYSNET@cc.newcastle.edu.au>
Subject:      FDDI multi-protocol routers

I am in the process of selecting a supplier of FDDI and Ethernet-capable
multi-protocol routers for our campus network. The first stage consists of 22
buildings on an optical fibre ring, with a total of 37 separate Ethernets.
Because of the cost, I expect to be able to afford only about seven routers
(based on the cost of Cisco AGS+).  All the other buildings will be fed
Ethernets by optical fibre from one of these routers in a nearby building.

At this stage, I have expressions of interest from a number of suppliers, some
of whom I have never heard of. The suppliers are:
        Cisco AGS+
        Wellfleet
        3com Netbuilder II and/or 3GH
        DEC DECNIS
        Network Systems Corp
        Time/Lan 100
        Chipcom with Cisco router modules
        RND Opengate
        Fibronics
        Synernetics LANplex and/or Interplex

I know fairly well the capabilities of Cisco and Wellfleet and sites where
these are installed. I know about 3com and DEC, but not any sites where the
offered products are in use. The others - well, I've heard the name...

So, I want to get some information about sites where these products are
installed (except Cisco and Wellfleet). I would like to know whether the
products work correctly and reliably, what the performance is like, whether
the manufacturer supports the product well, etc.

I'll probably think of more questions later...

Thanks

David Morrison, Manager, Networks and Comms, Uni of Newcastle, Australia
sysnet@cc.newcastle.edu.au or (VAX PSI) psi%0505249626002::sysnet
Phone: +61 49 215397    Fax: +61 49 216910

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

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 12:52:53 -0500
From: "John M. Wobus" <jmwobus@mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject:      Re: Question on routing

Rich Messinger writes:
>  I have a question about routing that I am seeing on my
>  extended LAN here at Kodak.
>  I have several subnets that are seem to be running properly using
>  in.routed and proxyarp to connect to our network here.
>  The subnets are each using a one's broadcast on the inside but the
>  network they are connected to is doing a zero's broadcast. (I know
>  that one's may be better than zeros but the change is not possible
>  at this time.)

>  I am seeing arp packets coming from the routers for these
>  subnets in response to a zero's broadcast as if they are
>  thinking that the zeros address is a node's address that they
>  need to resolve.  Is this "normal" behavior or is it possible
>  that we have something misconfigured on these routers (These are
>  SUN's running 4.1.x)?

>  Would it be better to run gated instead and if so, do I still need
>  proxyarp with gated for the pings to work?

I can't give you definitive answers and I am not sure I understand
all your questions, but I'll throw out some comments:

(1) On a router (either dedicated, like a Cisco, or a Unix system that
 is routing between two or more subnets) you should be able to
 configure the broadcast address independently for each interface.  If
 each subnet has all its own nodes configured consistently, then there
 should be no misinterpretation.
(2) Both routed and gated use the IP broadcast address but have nothing
 to do with proxy arp.  In a simple network (e.g. less than 10 routers,
 no redundant paths in the topology, just one routing protocol) I think
 routed presents no problems.

All your questions are in the domain of TCP/IP so you should make sure
you have access to the sources of information on TCP/IP in order to
address these problems.

John Wobus
Syracuse University

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


End of BIG-LAN Digest
*********************
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