Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watserv1!watdragon!rose!ccplumb
From: ccplumb@rose.waterloo.edu (Colin Plumb)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: NET: NET: NET: NET: NET: (Is the Net: device real?)
Keywords: NET:, net:, net, NET, network, spam, spam
Message-ID: <19000@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Date: 4 Dec 89 21:42:19 GMT
References: <18897@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Sender: daemon@watdragon.waterloo.edu
Reply-To: ccplumb@rose.waterloo.edu (Colin Plumb)
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 63

In article <18897@watdragon.waterloo.edu> rsingh1@dahlia.waterloo.edu () writes:
> Is it real?  Is it actualy going to be sold with some product or something?

Why sell it with a product?  It should be transparent to all existing ones.

> I would like to know how it functions, so I can support it in a really neat
> program I'm writing.

You type
dir net:machine/device/directory/file
(e.g. net:colin/df0/dnet/readme)
and you get a directory.  All the other DOS calls work similarly.
What's to support?

> THINGS I WOULD 'LIKE' TO KNOW:
> 
> o     What types of networks will this net: device work with?
>        (Ethernet? something else?  Serial link-up thing?)

The last time I saw it, they only had DNET working, but were planning on
giving it a more general network interface so it would be easy to add others.
DNET, if you don't know, it Matt Dillon's serial transport level protocol
and generally a useful tool.

> o     How much memory will the network software use?

Dunno.  Not all that much.

> o     Any bottlenecks in the system that slow the thing down?

The published code was, I believe, a FIFO server.  Multiple simultaneous
accesses probably aren't as fast as possible.

> o     Any security on files, directories, and stuff?

As far as I know, vanilla.  Standard AmigaDOS bits.  No fancy schemes.

> o     Will it support muliple networks, or printing through networks, or
>       linked networks somehow?

At the Transactor, they had print and mail daemons running very quickly.
You can do multiple nets by just accessing
net:gateway/net2/othermachine/device/direvtory/.../file.  Certainly less
efficient than possible, but it'll do.

> o     Cost, and minimum hardware requirements, and ideal hardware setups?

If you have the underlying network, $0 and some work to get it running.
With DNET, you need a null modem cable between two amigas, running as fast
as you can get away with.  With Matt Dillon's PARNET, you can have
multiple devices but need a custom cable on the parallel ports.  An ideal
setup?  Who knows?  Ethernet would be nice, but the support isn't in NET:
yet.  For DNET, a multi-serial board that can handle high baud rates would
be nice.
 
> I hope I am wrong, because I (like so many others) can't hope to afford the
> ameristar thing, and just want some simple network that is accessable, and
> easy to use.

Have a look at what Matt Dillon's doing (ftp to ucbvax.berkeley.edu and
look in pub/amiga).  Fun stuff!
-- 
	-Colin