Xref: utzoo comp.protocols.nfs:1982 comp.windows.ms:10357 comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc:5183 Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!exodus!appserv!sun!amdcad!brahms!phil From: phil@brahms.amd.com (Phil Ngai) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.nfs,comp.windows.ms,comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc Subject: Re: Sun PC-NFS deficiencies Message-ID: <1991Mar15.033605.14588@amd.com> Date: 15 Mar 91 03:36:05 GMT References: <1991Mar13.180625.14540@amd.com> Sender: usenet@amd.com (NNTP Posting) Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc; Sunnyvale, CA Lines: 52 In article kjv@kapakala.tampella.fi (V{{r{nen Kari) writes: | |> You can print to an HP Laserjet IIIsi over the Ethernet directly, | |Well, that is obvious. PC-NFS (or UNIX) can't print to a network laser |that doesn't talk TCP/IP. At least, if there is not a Novell-talking |driver installed on the PC-NFS -server.. I suppose there isn't such a |beast available yet... :-) Actually, there is. You can get Portable Netware to run on Unix machines. I include this example to show you that Novell is considered to be a more important Ethernet protocol than TCP/IP by HP. And you probably know how important HP is in the laser printer market. HP has a pretty good idea of what they are doing. |> The IIISi has a faster print engine (17 PPM), a RISC processor, | |I would, myself, prefer the QMS ImageServer, which is a 20 ppm, TCP/IP |speaking postscript laser... (And costs like hell too. :-) The IIIsi is less than $6,000 list price. |The point is that we have a not-too-small system here. Every one of |our users must be able to use our bigger systems running in our VAXen |and Suns. I am *not* convinced that we could do as much with a 'pure' |PC-network like Novell. At least, not yet.. :-) (Btw, when I say I'm not saying Novell is for everyone. And that PC-NFS has no value. I am saying PC-NFS could learn a lot about how to fit into a PC environment from Novell. |> PC-NFS requires you to choose a name for your machine. One user |> chose the name of our server. He wasn't malicious, just confused. |> He crashed the server. | |That's funny. Nodes in TCP/IP networking are identified with |IP-number. If you don't generate unique numbers, you ask for This is the point. Unix people can't even imagine that this problem might not exist in other systems. |Are you suggesting that Novell is *so* easy that even the most |ignorant users can set up the whole network and manage it properly? If I'm saying installing Novell on a client is much easier than PC-NFS. The server does require more attention, but Suns are not something the most ignorant user can run either. -- The government is not your mother. The government doesn't love you.