Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!portal!cup.portal.com!AMillar
From: AMillar@cup.portal.com (Alan DI Millar)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans
Subject: Re: UB Boards...one last word...
Message-ID: <32423@cup.portal.com>
Date: 4 Aug 90 02:45:28 GMT
References: <12666@rouge.usl.edu>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 47

(I'll try to be a little more helpful this time, and do less 
flaming :-)

I am not an Ungermann-Bass employee.  I can tell you a few things I know,
but NOT the official word of Ungermann-Bass.

Ungermann-Bass is not connected to the Internet.  According to a friend
in their Telecom department, nobody in UB wants to spend the money on a
connection (which is expensive, I hear).  UB does have TCP products,
so it's not that their boards aren't capable.

UB does not use Novell Netware for its own networks, because it has its own
products.  UB's internal network is based on the XNS protocols, which
have been around longer than TCP.  However, UB does have TCP software 
which runs on all of the boards, including (I believe) the NICPS/2.
As we all have found, there are no packet drivers for any boards except the
PC-NIC.

If you only need TCP, you can buy the UB software.  If you want
other software to co-exist with TCP there aren't many choices.

UB employees do not read Usenet because it is not distributed through
UB's internal network.  That's why nobody responds to your postings.

As to electronic mail:  UB's email system is part of its parent company's 
(Tandem Computers).  Tandem has a gateway to the Internet (lastname_first@ 
comm.tandem.com).  Only certain employees can mail out the gateway, but it
appears that you can mail IN to anybody (this may have changed since I last
tried it a few months ago).  It is theoretically possible, therefore, to
send mail to  UNGERMANN_RALPH@COMM.TANDEM.COM or DAVIDSON_JOHN@COMM.TANDEM.COM
(President and VP of R&D, respectively), but because of the gateway      
restrictions you may not get a reply.  Note that I have no authority to tell
you it is OK for you to do this.

UB is, of course, always available over the phone, and the Customer Service
organization has a bulletin board where you can dial in, leave messages,
download patches, etc.  I don't know the number, but you must register
with CSO before you use it anyways.

I believe that UB does have Netware drivers for 2.15C for it's cards, which
should co-exist with UB's TCP.  This could eliminate the need for packet
drivers for many people, although it's not the solution for everybody.   

I hope this sheds a little light.  But remember, I'm not affiliated with
UB and cannot speak for them (and all that other usual disclaimer stuff...:-)

- Alan Millar    AMillar@cup.portal.com