Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!nucsrl!tellab5!laidbak!amiganet!dhansen From: dhansen@amiganet.chi.il.us (Dave Hansen) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.datacomm Subject: Re: x 25 Message-ID: Date: 21 Jun 91 03:40:21 GMT References: Organization: Amiga Network Information Systems Lines: 27 >I'm notsure if this goes in this area but, I am looking for any info on using >X 25 packet switching on the Amiga... Can anyone help me? > The only way to currently use X.25 on an Amiga is to connect the serial port to a PAD device. That's a Packet Assembler/Disassembler. It's quite similar to an ethernet port sharing adapter, except that it makes X.25 packets and unmakes incoming X.25 packets to the serial port. At my office, the Amigas are connected both to the PAD and via ethernet to other computers that offer PAD software from any terminal (which would include a telnet/rlogin pseudoterminal). If (when) OSI really does take off, which it should since the DoD has spec'd that every GSA purchase has to involve the OSI model, the Amiga would really NEED an X.25 PAD internal to the machine. But since the DoD and almost all other Government Service Authority systems still use TCP/IP, both as LANs and WANs, who knows when X.25 and OSI will really make it. It is true that the point to point X.25 is a more efficient transmission format than TCP/IP, TCP/IP has FTP, TFTP, UDP, SMTP, telnet, rlogin, NFS, etc. that are lacking in the current X.25. The telnet/rlogin equivalent on X.25 is PAD, but no standard file transfer methods have been widely implemented. I'm hedging my bets, my network is ethernet LAN and X.25 WAN, but the X.25 software allows TCP/IP over X.25, so I'm fairly well covered for whatever happens. The IBM end of our shop is considering using Cisco-type ethernet routers for WANs and LANS, but since I've got an ethernet besides the X.25, I can be compatible with all of it. The only major things that I haven't been able to accomplish are network printers (is there a standard?) and Amiga NFS servers (maybe someday!). voice: (708)691-4747 Internet:dhansen@amiganet.chi.il.us