Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!VIOLET.BERKELEY.EDU!austins
From: austins@VIOLET.BERKELEY.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.appletalk
Subject: Re: More Appletalk Phase II
Message-ID: <8906202057.AA05193@jade.berkeley.edu>
Date: 20 Jun 89 20:57:31 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 20


Rick, I have a question about the following excerpt from your last posting:

>The Ethertalk 2.0 or Tokentalk 2.0 software doesn't care which number
>you belong to, and will procede to find you a free node on one of
>them automatically.  Then it saves what your net number is inside parameter
>RANM, so that the next time you boot, you will have the same number
>and will save the system all the crosstalk of people trying to get a
>unique net ID.  The only chatter thatmay occur is if a new Mac is installed
>on an existing network, as it will procede tofind itself a unique ID,
>and store it away.

Does the router timeout these assignments?  If so, what is that period (is it 
configurable?) Otherwise, it seems like you could slowly run out of numbers.  
Consider the situation (albeit unlikely) where new Macs are continually 
replacing existing Macs in a net.  What happens when all of the numbers are 
assigned and a new Mac arrives?

Austin Shelton
U.C. Berkeley