Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bbn!rochester!cornell!batcomputer!itsgw!nyser!rutgers!orstcs!mist!hakanson
From: hakanson@mist.cs.orst.edu (Marion Hakanson)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: subnetting supported by Sequents?
Message-ID: <4776@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU>
Date: 25 May 88 20:38:46 GMT
References: <18969@watmath.waterloo.edu>
Sender: netnews@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU
Reply-To: hakanson@mist.CS.ORST.EDU (Marion Hakanson)
Organization: Oregon State University - CS - Corvallis, Oregon
Lines: 31

I hope this is of general interest....

We are running DYNIX 3.0.4 on a Sequent B21, and it does indeed
support subnets (and a settable broadcast address).  According to
the people at Sequent, they put in the 4.3bsd IP networking code,
but are still running the 4.2bsd TCP code (why, I don't know).  This
means that any 4.3bsd systems you have must be configured with the
TCP_COMPAT_42 hack (TCP sequence number bug).  It also includes the
4.3bsd routed and RIP code.

Other than the fact that DYNIX 3.0 does not include a nameserver (or
MX-speaking sendmail), and that it still runs the buggy 4.2bsd ftp,
telnet and rlogin implementations, along with the other 4.2bsd TCP
performance bugs, our Sequent functions adequately as an Internet site
(behind a Cisco router).  The only annoyance I really notice is that
sendmail has the "loop on EOF" bug if an Internet SMTP connection is
lost during a mail transfer (this can be fixed when we port the 4.3bsd
sendmail.MX).

Rick Adams at UUNET may be of help to you, as well.  The UUNET machine
is also a Sequent B21 running DYNIX 3.0.  Don't let my criticisms put
you completely off of the machine.  It is very solid, no crashes, and
has a tremendous amount of CPU bandwidth (by that, I meant it's very
hard to slow the thing down, especially if you have enough RAM).  But
if we didn't have a 4.3bsd machine to handle nameservice and mail
routing, we'd be up a creek.  In short, it ain't 4.3.

-- 
Marion Hakanson         Domain: hakanson@cs.orst.edu
                        CSNET : hakanson%cs.orst.edu@relay.cs.net
                        UUCP  : {hp-pcd,tektronix}!orstcs!hakanson