Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!bbn!spdcc!dyer
From: dyer@spdcc.COM (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.nfs
Subject: Re: Server hardware/software query
Message-ID: <3232@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM>
Date: 13 May 89 00:27:24 GMT
References: <11677@duorion.cair.du.edu>
Reply-To: dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.COM (Steve Dyer)
Distribution: usa
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Lines: 41

In article <11677@duorion.cair.du.edu> bshafer@du.edu (Bob Shafer) writes:
>We  are  looking  at  the  possibility  of using NFS for software
>distribution to networked PC's in student  labs in  a building on
>our campus and have a few questions.
>     1)   [VaxStations]
>     2)   We might be able to shake loose an IBM RT  model 125 or
>          135 with  plenty of  memory and disk.  The problem here
>          is  the  operating  system  software.    AIX  2.2.1  is
>          immature  and  AOS  (IBM's  BSD  4.3) is not a complete
>          implementation of 4.3.  Both  have  NFS.    We  have no
>          experience with NFS on AIX.  Our experience with NFS on
>          AOS seems to indicate that  it  is  based  on  an older
>          version of NFS.

First, I think you're obsessing too much over this.  A MicroVax II would
do fine.  An RT 125 or 135 would do even better.  Write back in a few
months and tell us how wonderful this advise was.

I must correct some misrepresentations about NFS and AOS 4.3.
First, it's about as "complete" as port of 4.3 as I can imagine.
OK, Franz Lisp and Berkeley Pascal aren't there.  Jeez.
The NFS code in AOS 4.3 is based on Sun's NFS 3.2 OEM package
for 4.3BSD integrators.  NFS 3.2 is **NOT** the NFS from Sun OS 3.2.
I don't know of a later version.

Project Athena at MIT has been using MicroVAXes, VAX 750s and RT PCs (125),
successfully for almost two years now as file servers, based on the slightly
older Sun NFS 3.0 OEM distribution, which was originally integrated into
the 4.3 kernel by U Wisconsin (VAX), and RT (Brown).  I have not compared
the recent AOS 4.3 releas