Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!image.soe.clarkson.edu!news From: nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc Subject: affirmative tcp-ip on arcnet! Message-ID: Date: 21 Dec 89 21:06:19 GMT References: <470@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM> Sender: news@sun.soe.clarkson.edu Reply-To: nelson@clutx.clarkson.edu Distribution: usa Organization: Clarkson University, Potsdam NY Lines: 52 In-reply-to: kleonard@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM's message of 21 Dec 89 14:35:33 GMT In article <470@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM> kleonard@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM (Ken Leonard) writes: [Flame off, please, about the hardware choice. We _had_ to go with absolute- lowest-cost-per-_permissible_-suppliers.] ARCnet is actually pretty cool. I have a source for twisted-pair ARCnet boards for $88. We are setting up a few engineers' PClones on an ARCNET LAN, specifically Datapoint Corp's. DATALAN. The first question is, "Where can we get IP, TCP, et.al. to run over ARCNET?" I have modified Phil Karn's TCP/IP to work with an ARCnet packet driver. Oh, and yes, I also wrote an ARCnet packet driver. And the second question is, "How can we use one of the boxes with a 9600 bps link to a UNIX/VAX with SLIP and router software to get access to the rest of the systems here at our center?" Phil's software will also act as a router, and it knows how to fragment correctly. We think we would like to have a _packet_driver_ for our ARCNET cards (the Performance Technology card sold by Datapoint as the ARCNET RIM-1.) Right, got it. Since I'm pretty sure it works, I'll put it out as an addendum to the 5.x release. We think we could use PCIP on top of the packet driver. Only if you tell PCIP how to use an ARCnet driver. This shouldn't be too tough, just a matter of bashing Phillip Prindeville's PCIP and Dan Lanciani's PCIP together. We think PCROUTE or PCBRIDGE would handle the cross-connect. Probably not. The lowest MTU that anyone uses on the Internet is 576. The highest MTU you can use on ARCnet is 507. You need a router that fragments packets. Can we also get a _packet_driver_ SLIP? Yes. See below. What about KA9Q? It seems that it might work. Maybe we could get Phil Karns' permission to use it. Yes, we _are_ a commercial organization, Phil has agreed to accept my arcnet support changes, so you'll eventually be able to use a vanilla copy. -- --russ (nelson@clutx [.bitnet | .clarkson.edu]) Russ.Nelson@$315.268.6667 Live up to the light thou hast, and more will be granted thee. A recession now appears more than 2 years away -- John D. Mathon, 4 Oct 1989. I think killing is value-neutral in and of itself. -- Gary Strand, 8 Nov 1989. Liberals run this country, by and large. -- Clayton Cramer, 20 Nov 1989. Shut up and mind your Canadian business, you meddlesome foreigner. -- TK, 23 N.