It's next to impossible these days to run a data
center without some means of communication between
sites, whether it's between buildings, across the
country, or around the world. The Data
Communications and Interconnectivity RoundTable at
GEnie Page 1450 is dedicated to providing
information and advice on all aspects of Local
Area or Wide Area Networking (LANs and WANs).
  
Network administrators, programmers, users, and
managers can exchange opinions and ideas in the
Bulletin Board. You've got two computers that need
to talk to each other -- how hard can that be? The
old server is wheezing, disks are bulging at the
seams, and marketing wants to add ten more users
by Friday. Is cabling a black art, or can mere
mortals make the right connections? You'll find
answers to commonly-asked questions about data
networks in Category 2. For more detailed
discussions of specific products and technologies,
see Novell Netware (Category 7); Banyan Vines
(Category 8); IBM LAN Server (Category 9);
Microsoft LAN Manager and Windows NT (Category
10); AppleTalk (Category 11); UNIX, TCP/IP, NFS
(Category 12), or DECnet and DEC Pathworks
(Category 13).
  
Quick Access
  
You'll find the technical information you need
quickly as the staff of the Data Communications
and Interconnectivity RoundTable is dedicated to
providing the most up-to-date and accurate service
possible. These are just a few of the discussions
you're bound to find helpful: Peer-to-Peer
Operating Systems (Category 20); Servers and
Gateways (Category 22); Cabling/Protocols
(Category 23); Bridges, Routers, and Repeaters
(Category 24); Hubs and Wiring Closets (Category
25); LAN Adapter Cards (Category 26); LAN
Workstations (Category 27); Multi-Media over LANs
or WANs (Category 28); Network Applications
(Category 30); Network Management Software
(Category 31); Network Diagnostic Tools (Category
32); and Wide-Area Networks (WANs) (Category 40).
  
In the Software Library, you'll find network
utilities, drivers, patches, and other
networking-related programs, as well as
educational texts on setting up a LAN or WAN and
other items of interest. A sampling of what's
available includes:
  
Locker (file #10 LOCK175.ZIP) is a program that
meters software on a network and controls the
number of concurrent users who have access to DOS
or Windows executables. Locker works on most DOS
systems that support DOS file sharing and locking.
It has been tested with Novell's Netware, Banyan's
Vines, Microsoft's LAN Manager, and with Lantastic
Networks.
  
NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) is a
specification for hardware and software
communication at the transport layer between the
protocol layer and the MAC (Media Access Control)
layer. AI-NDIS (file #14 AINDIS.ZIP) allows
LANtastic's NETBIOS to communicate with an NDIS
MAC driver. This allows the LANtastic network to
run on any adapter with an NDIS driver, including
Ethernet, Token Ring, and Arcnet. This file
contains the complete LANtastic NDIS kit.
  
AMS (file #24 AMSMNU.ZIP) is a menu system
designed primarily for ease of use, with a number
of Desktop, Network, and Novell utilities built
in. AMS was designed to be compatible with the
Novell Network Menu System. Users of this system
will be able to immediately switch to this
program, using the same menu files, while giving
them access to all available memory when running
applications.
  
NOTD (file #31 NOTD.ZIP) is a Windows-based
network messaging system for Novell Netware 3.11
and other LANs. NOTD provides conditional display
of any text message at Windows startup. ADMIN is a
user friendly utility that allows NOTD
configuration and message editing in a single
Windows program.
  
Watch for new additions and remember that
uploading to GEnie's Libraries is free, so be sure
to share your favorites!
  
Meet the Networkers
  
Real-Time Conferences are held every Thursday
night at 9:30 PM Eastern time. The Data
Communications and Interconnectivity RoundTable
also offers a Help Desk for anybody who has
questions about their network setup. Join us for
Upgrading to Novel 4.01 on Thursday, February 10
at 9:30 PM Eastern time, and Communications Trivia
night on Thursday, February 17 at 9:30 PM Eastern
time.
  
The staff of the Data Communications and
Interconnectivity RoundTable bring with them
expertise from various areas. Jeffry Dwight,
Senior Assistant Sysop, is an independent computer
consultant in Dallas. Jeffry worked for Perot
Systems before striking out on his own. Steven
Ratzlaff, Assistant Sysop, is a senior-level
network systems engineer. Glenna Frost, Chief
Sysop, is an independent computer contractor
working out of Houston. She is also the Chief
Sysop for the Mini/Mainframe RoundTable and the
new Pro gramming & Programming Languages
RoundTable. Other staff members include Joe
Holliday, Librarian and Help Desk organizer, and
Shawn Sulma, Senior Help Desk assistant. Drop by
and meet the staff at our Open House Conference on
Thursday, February 3 at 9:30 PM Eastern time.
Check the announcements often for more exciting
Conferences to come!
