Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac:23919 comp.sys.ibm.pc:22177
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!unisoft!hoptoad!tim
From: tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Info Needed - Joining Macs to PC-NFS Sun System
Message-ID: <6053@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 13 Dec 88 18:03:21 GMT
References: <1988Dec5.233835.8014@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu> <492@dbase.UUCP>
Reply-To: tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney)
Organization: Eclectic Software, San Francisco
Lines: 36

In article <492@dbase.UUCP> cy@dbase.UUCP (Cy Shuster) writes:
>Yes, TOPS works, but does need to be installed on each machine using it.

Uh, I think it's well known I'm no great fan of TOPS, but I feel this is
a misleading answer.  The question was whether TOPS had to be installed
on every machine on the network.  The answer is no; the PCs can continue
to use PC-NFS, while Macs use TOPS; the PCs don't need TOPS.  The UNIX
machines will have to run both NFS and TOPS servers, which don't conflict.

The PCs won't have direct access to Mac servers this way, but presumably if
the site has found PC-NFS sufficient, they don't care about servers on the
micros anyway.  (In light of the following, I should point out that a
GatorBox/AFP solution doesn't even allow the Macs to be servers among
themselves, much less to PCs.)

>For a specifically Mac to NFS solution, examine the "Gator Box" from
>Cayman Systems (617/494-1999). It's a hardware protocol converter between
>AppleTalk and NFS, and requires no software to be installed on the PC/NFS
>side. See also the MacWeek supplement on gateways in the Nov. 15 issue.

It sure doesn't; neither does TOPS.  Also, the reports from the field are
that it doesn't work.  When a representative of Cayman, who also worked on
the disastrous HyperNet project, wrote me to discuss it, he made an amazing
number of obvious technical errors; when I pointed this out, he got huffy
and refused to speak to me any more.  So don't hold your breath waiting for
this solution to be real.

>Disclaimer: I haven't used this system, but it specifically relates to NFS.

Those who have used it express great optimism but concur that it does not
work as presently available.  Wait for new versions and revised reports
from real users before buying or endorsing the GatorBox.
-- 
Tim Maroney, Consultant, Eclectic Software, sun!hoptoad!tim
"Americans will buy anything, as long as it doesn't cross the thin line
 between cute and demonic." -- Ian Shoales