Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site usna.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gatech!seismo!usna!tcs From: tcs@usna.UUCP (Terry Slattery ) Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards,net.lan Subject: Re: EXCELAN TCIP Message-ID: <120@usna.UUCP> Date: Mon, 25-Nov-85 12:15:32 EST Article-I.D.: usna.120 Posted: Mon Nov 25 12:15:32 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 26-Nov-85 20:57:10 EST References: <659@hou2b.UUCP> <1060@lll-crg.ARpA> Organization: U.S. Naval Academy Lines: 40 Xref: watmath net.unix-wizards:15857 net.lan:1170 > Well, the excelan product may be ok for your particular set-up, but > its given us here a real haedache. The problem is, (at least with our > version of the software) that the Excelan IP doesn't know about > internet routing! > > Also, some other folks here at Ames used the boards over a sky link > between 2 vitalink boxes and discovered that the TCP on the board > only lets one packet or so be outstanding without an ack, now > this isn't too bad on direct ether links, but over satellite > links you get massacred by the long transit time. You'd probably > notice this too on the MILNET, but since you can't use gateways > anyway, it probably doesn't matter. The current product that Excelan is marketing PROPERLY HANDLES GATEWAY ROUTING! You want version 3.2 of their software. I have a 2.9BSD PDP11 here running V3.2 (I was a beta test site) and can talk on the internet (MILNET) with it. As far as I know, the SGI workstations are still using 3.1a. Pound on SGI to get the latest release out. I've had 3.2 since August. We have an SGI also and it still doesn't know about routing but I intend to ask about it at the Defense Computer Graphics Conference in Washington, D.C. next week. It's about time they got it distriubted. I can't comment on the single outstanding packet problem since I havn't done extensive internet testing. I'm quite pleased with Excelan's 3.2 version of their TCP/IP software. It's been cleaned up quite a bit and the glaring problems you mentioned have been fixed. One aggrivating thing though; rlogind & telnetd run in the card and the interface into the kernel is via a serial multiplexor type driver. So you wind up with getty running on all the ptty lines (no auto-authentication for rlogin). It uses the 4.1a network semantics, so work is needed to port 4.2/3 programs. I also have implemented BRL's MDQS spooling system and it worked first time! Really slick! -tcs Terry Slattery U.S. Naval Academy 301-267-4413 ARPA: tcs@usna.arpa UUCP: decvax!brl-bmd!usna!tcs