Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mit-eddie!apollo!mishkin
From: mishkin@apollo.COM (Nathaniel Mishkin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re: Domain across phone line and SLIP
Keywords: Domain, telecommuting, TCP/IP, SLIP
Message-ID: <43fb720c.1d6d5@apollo.COM>
Date: 22 Jun 89 12:29:00 GMT
References: <43f2706a.f81c@gtephx.UUCP>
Reply-To: mishkin@apollo.com (Nathaniel Mishkin)
Organization: Apollo Computer, Chelmsford, MA
Lines: 33

In article <43f2706a.f81c@gtephx.UUCP> barriost@gtephx.UUCP (Tim Barrios) writes:
>I have heard about SLIP in SR10.1 which supports TCP/IP across a serial
>line (19.2K baud phone line, for example).  Here are some of the questions
>I have on this topic:
>  - What capabilities would such a user have?

The standard IP services -- telnet, ftp, etc.

>  - I have been told that we could not do Domain across SLIP.  Why?

You really shouldn't think of this as "Domain across SLIP".  SLIP
specifically refers to a way of doing point-to-point IP links over
(typically slow speed) serial lines.  Domain can run over point-to-point
links, but the target is high speed links to connect bridges (Domain
routers) to pass traffic between between high speed LANs (ethers or rings).
We require that the links be fairly high speed since the Domain protocols
expect low round-trip times.  (I don't know what the "advertised" minimum
speed link is, but it's certainly 56kb or higher.)  It has not been a
goal to make Domain protocols run across slow-speed links.  Thus, while
you could in principle put nodes at home, you'd need to spend a lot of
money to get them connected.

>  - Could we get close to the same level of transparency with TCP/IP and NFS?

Domain/NFS offers a subset of the features that the Domain file system
offers.  For example, if you access Domain files via NFS, you'll lose
things like type information.  Further, I don't know whether people
can successfully run NFS (from/to Apollos or otherwise) over slow-speed
links.
-- 
                    -- Nat Mishkin
                       Apollo Computer Inc., Chelmsford, MA
                       mishkin@apollo.com