Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!uxc!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!kailand!pwolfe
From: pwolfe@kailand.KAI.COM
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sequent
Subject: Re: Systech MTI-1600 tty problems.
Message-ID: <2400042@kailand>
Date: 21 Apr 89 18:18:00 GMT
References: <834@htsa.uucp>
Lines: 51
Nf-ID: #R:htsa.uucp:834:kailand:2400042:000:2955
Nf-From: kailand.KAI.COM!pwolfe    Apr 21 13:18:00 1989


>/* Written  7:26 am  Apr 20, 1989 by jand@htsa.uucp in kailand:comp.sys.sequent */
>What are annex's and cisco's and what exactly is the price ?  

The Annex is an ethernet terminal server, sold by Encore Computer Corp.  I
read somewhere that Encore sold the whole annex works to Systech, but Encore
can still sell the Annex.  There are two flavors, Annex I and Annex II.  We
have four Annex I's, which come with 16 serial ports (db9p connectors), one
centronics parallel printer port, one ethernet port in (for connecting to
your network), and one ethernet port out (for cascading Annexes).

When we bought ours (around Dec 1987), they were list priced at $6,000 each
(compare that to $4,800 for the 16 port System MTI-1650 from Sequent.  The
Annex II has 16 or 32 ports (upgradable), but I don't know what they cost.
You might check with Systech to see what they are charging.

We got ethernet terminal servers because we wanted to place our terminals
further from the computers than the direct rs232 ports support, and because
they let us login to any host on the network without a/b switches and patch
cord changes.  When we get a new computer, or one goes down, people no longer
scramble for the patch panel to get connected.  We have dialin modems
connected to one, so we aren't dependant on any host being up for people to
dialin.

They can be configured to allow multiple logins from a single terminal (you
use the break key and "fg" commands to switch from one active session to
another).  They support rlogin and telnet commands for remote logins.

You can have the annex setup to require that user's supply a loginid and
password before being given access to the annex command line, or not (we do
for dialups, but not for terminals in house).

I would recommend Annexes to anyone, but not having much experience with
other brands, I can't honestly compare their features.  I asked quite a few
people, and read some discussions in various netnews groups and at the time,
Bridge, Cisco and Encore were all out there, and the Annex was the one there
were fewest complaints about.

The only problems I've run into is getting any parallel printers to work on the
parallel port, getting an Apple Laserwriter to work on any serial port (the
LaserWriter talks back, and there's no way I know to get something to read
that), and the annex cannot be made a "trusted" host, since Encore made some
silly mistakes in their rlogin protocol (when a user types "rlogin host -l
otheruser", the annex sends "otheruser" as both the local and remote usernames,
no matter when they originally logged on with).  Also, it's possible, but
really painful to get someone else's UUCP to dialup through an annex.  I gave
up, as it was much easier to just leave one modem directly connected to a
host, and only tell people we uucp with what that phone number is.

Patrick Wolfe	(pat@kai.com, {uunet,uiucuxc,sequent}!kailand!pat)
System Manager, Kuck and Associates, Inc.