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Here at Salk we are running PC's (DOS & Windows 3.1), Macintosh Quadras,
and Sun Workstations on the same Net. The common file server is one of
the Sun SPARC's that exports user directories to 2 ways:
1) NFS (Network File Service - TCP/IP)
Users may mount directories using Sun PC-NFS or other TCP/IP package that
supports NFS. This is fairly simple once configured, and the NFS directory
appears to be another PC disk drive to the user. There seems to be several
TCP/IP packages for DOS/Windows machines that support NFS available now.
2) CAP (Columbia AppleTalk Package)
This allows users with Mac's to use the Mac Chooser and "AppleShare" their
directory on the file server. To them the Sun appears to be just another Mac.
CAP is free software. We are now using Mac's for data acquisition, and this
makes archiving data folders rather simple for the users. They just collect
on the local SCSI and then drop the folder onto their remote disk icon to
copy over the net.
CAP can be obtained by anonymous FTP from
rutgers.EDU src/{cap60.tar.Z,cap60.patches/*}
munnari.OZ.AU mac/{cap60.tar.Z,cap.patches/*}
gatekeeper.DEC.COM pub/net/appletalk/cap/{cap60.tar.Z,cap.patches/*}
ftp.kuis.kyoto-u.AC.JP net/cap/{cap60.tar.Z,cap60.patches/*.Z}
src.doc.ic.AC.UK mac/multigate/{cap60.tar.Z,cap.patches/*}
Which brings me to the point - the cheapest and fastest LAN server might
be a Pentium running linux (the free Unix OS). It could (and will) be set
up to export file systems via NFS and CAP just like the Sun. A lab here has
a Pentium/90 running linux that is currently out performing most of the the high
priced RISC machines! The alternate boot system on the machine is DOS/Windows,
if needed. Granted, you have to get a bit 'nerdy' and learn some Unix, but
the payoff might be worth it. My experience here with PI's that have Mac's
as their personal machine strongly suggests that forcing one to use TCP/IP
software is asking for trouble. The PI's with PC's usually look at the Mac's
with distain, and don't even want to know what a "Chooser" is. The PI's with
Unix machines usually think the Mac's and PC's are cute and probably wonder
why you can't use a "real" computer. So, my solution is to let each have his/her
own way and let them get to their data by the way they prefer.
Joe
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