Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bbn!uwmcsd1!ig!jade!ucbvax!MVSA.USC.EDU!LDW From: LDW@MVSA.USC.EDU (Leonard D Woren) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: Cheap TCP/IP access to IBM/Amdahl's Message-ID: <8712241342.AA06542@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 24 Dec 87 12:46:00 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 44 > Is there however a cheaper, lower-but-acceptable performance alternative - > say a PC/AT with channel one side and Ether the other. The IBM 8232 LAN Channel Station is an industrial PC/AT with a channel on one side and LAN connections (Ethernet or/and Token Ring) on the other. I believe the performance is close to the K200, at least in the same ballpark. The problem is, the 8232 may cost as much as the K200. (As an IBM & PCM bigot, I hate to say this, but you pay $$$ for those 3 letters.) And there's another big problem that caused us to go for the ACS 9310 from ACC: IBM has no (announced) software for MVS for the 8232. Their response: "we recognize the requirement." Our requirement was "get something now". I understand the 8232 is being marketed only to Universities, and is only being sold in the U.S. It is marketed through a special IBM group known as ACIS, for ACademic Information Systems. > If so - what Amdahl s/w would be required if we were NOT working with > UTS. Resident systems on the Amdahl are VM/CMS and MVS. The IBM software for the 8232 runs under VM. The ACC software for the 9310 runs under MVS. ACC also sells VM software; I know nothing about it. (But they listen to this list, so ...) > Surely there must be a better way of talking to IBM's than serial RJE's, > but at a reasonable cost... Sigh. Two conflicting terms... IBM and reasonable cost. If you don't already have a copy, you might want to check out the DDN Protocol Implementations and Vendors Guide. It's available via anonymous FTP at SRI-NIC.ARPA as NETINFO:VENDORS-GUIDE.DOC , or you can buy a printed copy from them. The following paragraph is extracted from the file: Additional copies of this document may be obtained from the DDN Network Information Center, SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Room EJ291, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Price is $30.00 domestic, $35.00 overseas. Copies may also be obtained from the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), Cameron Station, Alexandria, VA 22314. The table of contents lists a number of products for IBM systems, around a half dozen of which appear to be for mainframes. /Leonard ,