Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mit-eddie!husc6!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!ftp.UUCP!jbvb
From: jbvb@ftp.UUCP (James Van Bokkelen)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
Subject: Re: TCP/Novell gateway
Message-ID: <8801232126.AA06557@spdcc.COM>
Date: 23 Jan 88 20:19:08 GMT
References: <5148X@utah-cs.UUCP>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 32

There are presently two commercial solutions to this problem, neither being
what you describe:  One uses the file server as a translating gateway between
IPX and TCP/IP.  The other shares the workstation's network interface between
IPX and TCP/IP.

I would only recommend using the file server as a gateway if you have some
kind of incompatible network running the Novell software (ArcNet, Omninet,
whatever).  In this case, Novell and Interlan already have a product that
installs in the server, and software for the workstation.  If they have
published the specs for the IPX side, I haven't heard about it, so you
probably can't roll your own.  I know it uses Novell IPX protocols from
the workstation to the server, where translation to TCP takes place.

If you have Ethernet, or ProNET-10 token ring, you get much better throughput
if you just put a bridge between the Novell network and the TCP/IP network,
and install one of the TCP/IP software products that co-exists with Netware
on the workstation.  Univation, Sytek, Proteon, Interlan, BICC Data Networks
and Schneider & Koch all supply versions of PC/TCP that co-exist with Netware
(there's even software now that we don't supply, from Excelan).

With the TCP/IP on the workstation, sharing a single network card with Netware,
you can use FTP to get or put files from a TCP/IP host to the Novell file
server's disk at 30 or 40 Kbytes/sec.  Of course, this may cost somewhat more
than a server-based approach, but you get higher transfer rates and no impact
on other users of the server.

The approach of building a level-3 gateway would work, but it will require
that ARP and IP be installed on top of IPX, and the gateway needs to be as
smart as a gateway usually is...

James VanBokkelen
FTP Software Inc.