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Re: Older Equiptment
>>>MA == Michael A Hamblin <michaelh@utdallas.edu> wrote at Sat, 12 Dec 1998
18:57:03 -0400 :
>On Sat, 12 Dec 1998, Micah Yoder wrote:
>
>> Roman Suzi wrote:
>>
>> > - DOS computer with TCP/IP stack and good enough (by Linux
>> > standards) telnet.
>> >
>> > Is there any TCP/IP (or IPX? can IPX be used to telnet?) stack
>> > which could be boot from ONE 1.44/1.2 floppy? (diskless station)
>> I believe a DOS TCP/IP stack exists, but I don't know anything about
>> it. I hear Lynx runs on it, and I immagine telnet does also. But since
>> DOS does not have any kind of IPC, I think the TCP/IP stack has to be
>> linked into the program statically. Crappy, yeah, but it would work.
>
>I'm trying to find more info about this magic networking component called
>"bridge", which apparently allows several serial connections to be
>gathered into an ehternet connection.
>
Now you're getting into my area of expertise. I posted a message in this
thread yseterday with some of the answers to these questions; I'll repeat
some of it here, plus add a bit. First, network drivers for DOS. Your best
bet is the Crynwr packet drivers <http://www.crynwr.com>. If you're planning
to run over a modem, try DOSPPPD
<http://www.citilink.com/~kae/connecting/dos/ppp.html>. For a TCP/IP stack
you have 3 of 4 choices. There's CU/TCP
<ftp://ftp-ns.rutgers.edu/pub/msdos/cutcp/current/cutcp-b.zip>, NCSA Telnet
<http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Telnet>, KA9Q, and WATTCP (I don't
have any experience with these last two). You should also look at Arachne
<http://www.naf.cz/arachne/>, a graphical web browser for DOS. They're
working on a Linux version of Arachne.
A bridge is a device that converts from one type of network to another, such
as from ethernet to token ring. Since serial connections generally aren't
considered network connections (well, there's RS485, but that's not what you
mean here), what you're describing is more properly called a terminal server.
Any Linux system with multiple serial connections would qualify, although
dedicated terminal servers can be quite a bit "lighter," as they don't need
to do anything but pass the serial connections through. IF the serial
connections are SLIP or PPP rather than terminal connections, such a device
might qualify as a bridge, although generally you'd configure it as a router.
A bridge passes all traffic from one segment to the other, while a router
passes only traffic that is destined for a node on the other segment. When
the two segments are greatly unequal in bandwidth a router is a better
solution.
>> Also, you'd have to have a multiport serial board on the server, and
>> those things aren't necessarily cheap. How much do 16 port boards run?
>
I'm not current on costs for that stuff (ask me about ATM switches), but
check eBay--I'm sure there are some being auctioned off at pretty much any
time.
>Same story. I'm just trying to find out where the resources are for
>setting this sort of stuff up, and identify the pros and cons. I'm tossing
>a web page with the ideas I've gotten so far together. Let you know when
>I've got something together :)
>
>> Another issue... if we do either of these, we'll need character mode
>> educational apps! Do any exist? Are we going to write them? Is it
>> worth writing them when almost everyone wants a GUI?
>
>I thought that was one of the issues that came up when yall were
>discussing interfaces :)
>>Am I wrong?
The main reason for going with a standard data structure based on XML (as I
see it) is to allow anyone to develop programs to operate on the data with
whatever user interface they want. Students could take tests via a
GNOME-based app, teachers could use a curses-based gradebook against that
data, and parents could receive reports on their children via the web. The
data don't care.
--
Doug Loss An idealist is one who, on noticing that
dloss@csrlink.net roses smell better than cabbage, concludes
(717) 326-3987 that they will also make better soup.
H. L. Mencken