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From: R.J.Letts@sysc.salford.ac.uk
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
Subject: Re: LAN MANAGER Questions.
Message-ID: <29.May.91.20:49:08.A106FA@UK.AC.SALF.C>
Date: 29 May 91 19:49:08 GMT
References: <received.29.May.91.19:56:24.via.uk.ac.earn-relay>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
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> I'm curious.  The original poster on this claimed that PCSA and PC/NFS
> aren't "True LAN" implementations.
Not Suitable for serving PC's would have been better
 
> What are the characteristics of a network client/server/peer architecture
> that you believe make it a "True" LAN implementation?
 
1. Fileserver efficiency.
      Use of PC-NFS on a non-dedicated server is asking for trouble; a heavy
user of the system will cause DOS clients to time-out producing error messages
on the clients - not very good.
 
2. Workstation efficiency
      Use of PC-NFS or PCSA requires VAST amounts of memory; it may not be a
problem if you high-load the device drivers, but this isn't much use on an
IBM XT with 640k of memory
 
3. Security
Novell offers you a much richer access rights scheme than NFS -
Read
write
Create [New files/directories]
Open   [existing files]
Search [directories]
Execute-Only
 
In addition rights can be set by user and group, not
      The Owner
      His/Her group
      Everyone else
 
Also PC-NFS is stateless, so if you reboot the server users don't
necessarily loose their connection - not very good if you are trying to get
rid of a hacker from your system. PC hardware is often more reliable than
mini-computer hardware (None on my Novell fileservers have crashed over the
past year, I have lost one SUN CPU board, and more pieces of the PRIME's
than I care to remember)
 
4. Remote Booting
Can you remote boot a PC without a hard or a floppy disk using PCSA, or PC-NFS.
[you can with PCSA if you have the right sort of DEC ethernet cards].#
 
   5. Price/Performance
compare the cost of a pc-based fileserver with the cost of a PC-NFS or
PCSA fileserver.
 
-------------------------------------
Basically I think TCP/IP is NOT good for fileserving, but is good for
other things :
      Electronic Mail     (POP, SMTP etc)
      Remote Login        (Telent, though I prefer X.29 as this is Uk.Ac)
 
 
:-) any one disagree ?
 
Richard Letts
Network Manager
Salford University
Great Britain
 
These are my own views; Not those of my employer.