336 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
336 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
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Hiya.Alot has been asked about EasyNet...some folks thought it was a new system
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that could be used to access outdials,much like SprintNet's PC Pursuit service.
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However,yours truly went thru the trouble of actually getting an account on
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EasyNet (a Telebase System),and here is a buffered account of what I found.
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EasyNet is in fact,a database network,on which you can scan a variety of text
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files updated at a variety of intervals,from daily to weekly to whenever.
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I have no idea what others have done on this system,but for those who are
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interested,it can be accessed via SprintNet(Telenet) at 21549;CompuNet at
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HostName:Telebase;and via TymNet at Terminal ID: 'A' and Login:EasyNet.
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A Buffered Account of a typical database scan follows:
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Please enter the database name as you know it.
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(Use B to back up.)
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-> netweaver
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Searching.........................................
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This database is not currently being updated by its producers and is not
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searchable through this service at this time.
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PRESS TO SELECT * Main Menu *
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1 EasyNet-I System helps select the database
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2 EasyNet-II You name the database
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3 SmartSCAN Scan a group of databases
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4 Instructions, Database directory
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5 NEW! This Month: FREE Marketing Scan; Database Updates
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H for Help, C for Commands
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Total charges thus far: $0.25
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-> 2
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Please enter the database name as you know it.
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(Use B to back up.)
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-> netline
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Searching.......................................
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** SUBJECT TERMS SEARCH GUIDE **
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NOTE: This is a general search tutorial for NewsNet databases. The examples
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given below may not fit the database you have selected; however, the search
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guidelines are valid for each NewsNet database.
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ENTRY METHOD: Enter subject terms; omit punctuation and words like the, of,
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for, on, at, in, to, upon, etc. The minimum length of each subject term is 2
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characters; the maximum length is 20 characters.
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greenhouse gases
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fiber optic cable
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TRUNCATION: Use the WILD LETTER slash (/) to search variable word endings, or
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to truncate words longer than 20 characters. The minimum length of each
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truncated subject term is 3 characters, not counting the WILD LETTER slash.
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USE: superconduct/
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TO GET: superconductors, superconductive, superconductivity, etc.
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COMBINED TERMS: Use AND to search BOTH of two terms; use OR to search EITHER
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of two terms.
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Harvard AND animal patent
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oil shale OR oil sand/
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Guidelines.to back up) oil shale OR oil sand/INE/). Type H for Search
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Guidelines.
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(or type B to back up)
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-> easynet/
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Is:
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EASYNET/
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Correct ? (Yes/No) -> y
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We have no reason to believe that errors exist in the data or services
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furnished. If there are any such errors the parties hereto have no liability
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for any consequential, incidental or punitive damages. No warranty, either
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expressed or implied, including but not limited to those of merchantability or
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fitness for a particular purpose are made. Any liability is limited to the
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amount paid by the customer to Telebase.
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System is now searching the newsletter you selected, copyrighted 1990 and
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available through NewsNet, Inc.
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Accessing Network...........Completed.
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Accessing Database Host.....Completed.
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Logging on..................Completed.
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Selecting Database..........Completed.
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Submitting Search...........Completed.
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Nothing was retrieved. No charge for this search.
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If you wish, you may type
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SOS for online human assistance
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with your search.
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PRESS TO SELECT * Main Menu *
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1 EasyNet-I System helps select the database
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2 EasyNet-II You name the database
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3 SmartSCAN Scan a group of databases
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4 Instructions, Database directory
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5 NEW! This Month: FREE Marketing Scan; Database Updates
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H for Help, C for Commands
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Total charges thus far: $0.50
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-> 2
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Please enter the database name as you know it.
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(Use B to back up.)
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-> netline
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Searching........................................
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Guidelines.to back up)..........................INE/). Type H for Search
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Guidelines.
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(or type B to back up)
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-> telenet/
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Is:
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TELENET/
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Correct ? (Yes/No) -> y
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System is now searching the newsletter you selected, copyrighted 1990 and
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available through NewsNet, Inc.
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Accessing Network...........Completed.
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Accessing Database Host.....Completed.
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Logging on..................Completed.
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Selecting Database..........Completed.
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Submitting Search...........Completed.
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Retrieving the only full text article
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available on that subject.
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Heading # 1 Searched: 08-27-1990 22:23
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^S/^Q: stop/start; ^T: Paging ON ; ^C/(esc): interrupt (^ = CTRL/CONTROL key)
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Headline #1
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Copyright
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NETLINE via NewsNet
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March 1990
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LANS REACH OUT AT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS '90 -- PART I OF II
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Caryn Fox and Beth Bacheldor
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Although Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) was a popular
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subject at last month's Communications Networks '90 trade show
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in Washington, D.C., the real show-stealers were LAN-to-WAN and
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LAN-to-LAN integration and interconnection.
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Show attendees were overwhelmingly interested in LANs and LAN
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interconnection strategies. Seminar sessions -- even in the early
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morning -- were standing-room-only.
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At one session, Mary Modahl, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc.
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(Cambridge, Mass.), predicted that smart wiring hubs will be an
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important growth market in the LAN arena.
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Modahl said the hubs -- which provide physical layer network
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management, support multiple media, and provide bridging/routing
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capabilities -- will serve as the central point of LAN
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interconnection.
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Although they are available from only a few companies -- such
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as SynOptics Communications Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.),
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Ungermann-Bass Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.), Cabletron Inc. (East
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Rochester, N.H.), Proteon Inc. (Westborough, Mass.), and Chipcom
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Corp. (Waltham, Mass.) -- smart wiring hubs will attract large
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users because of their low cost and solid migration path to Fiber
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Distributed Data Interface, Modahl said.
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Smart hubs save users money by supporting a variety of media,
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including the upcoming 100 Mbps FDDI standard, Modahl noted.
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The interconnection theme also came across on the show floor,
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where a number of vendors launched new products and partnerships
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for linking disparate networks.
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* US Sprint (Reston, Va.) unveiled the LAN Reach product family,
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which links LANs via Sprint's SprintNet (formerly Telenet)
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nationwide public data network. Sprint said it plans to develop
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an array of LAN connectivity products based on several different
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technologies and standards.
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LAN Reach provides X.25 connectivity and supports the Open Systems
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Interconnect (OSI) X.400 protocol for electronic mail, Sprint
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said. The X.400 interface allows LAN users to access the
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SprintMail E-mail messaging service, which is interconnected with
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many other domestic and international e-mail services.
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Sprint also signed an agreement to resell Eicon Technology Corp.'s
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(Montreal, Canada) X.25/LAN gateway and bridge products. Sprint
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said it is developing an integrated network management system to
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control the SprintNet-Eicon gateway interconnection.
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* Under an agreement with CrossComm Corp. (Marlborough, Mass.),
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General DataComm Industries Inc. (Middlebury, Conn.) will add a
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family of LAN bridges to its current T1 WAN product line.
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* BBN Communications Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.), traditionally a WAN
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vendor, said it will offer LAN interconnection products and
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services as part of its "total network offering."
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* NCR Comten (St. Paul, Minn.), an IBM-oriented networking vendor,
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announced a new Network Integration Service for users to integrate
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their LANs and WANs.
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All in all, the conference showed that the lines between local
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and wide area networking are fading fast. Next on the agenda?
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High-speed LAN/WAN interconnectivity.
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Many major vendors touted FDDI-compliant products at the show.
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On the WAN side, Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) -- an
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upcoming industry standard for high-speed fiber optic wide
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area networking -- may be loosely viewed as FDDI's WAN equivalent.
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As WANS and LANs integrate with each other, keep an eye out for
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FDDI-to-SONET products.
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LAN STANDARDS COME OF AGE
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FDDI
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After much debate the Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) is
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finally close to completion. According to Floyd Ross, chairman of
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the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Station
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Management (SMT) working group, the SMT document of the emerging
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standard should be ready for approval within a few months.
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Ross predicted that by April, the SMT committee will have a
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document that will essentially be the SMT standard. "There are
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only details to work out" in the next few months, he said.
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However, because of the red tape still ahead, Ross said the
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standard will not be officially completed until early 1991.
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The SMT document of the 100 megabit per second, FDDI LAN
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specification has been a major stumbling block in completing the
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standard. Of the four documents -- Physical (PHY), Physical Media
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Dependent (PMD), Media Access Control (MAC), and SMT -- the SMT
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had been the center of hot debate at ANSI (see NETLINE, November
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'89, p. 2).
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According to Ross, the station manager is the focal point of
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network interoperability. "The station manager acts as the
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interface between management entities, monitors station activity,
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monitors station configuration and capabilities, and reconfigures
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the stations if there is a failure on the network," he explained.
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The debate was between vendors who wanted to define high-level
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management specifications (mostly high-end vendors) and those
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who wanted to keep the management capabilities basic (mostly
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low-end vendors). The argument from the low-end vendors was that
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including the high-level functionality specifications would stall
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the standard's passage.
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The final decision was to include the higher-level capabilities.
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The low-end vendors "realized it would be quicker to put [the
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higher-level procedures] in than to try and keep them out," Ross
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said.
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So, what does all this mean to the user? Right now, not much.
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The passage of the FDDI standard, in fact, may bring on a classic
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case of post-hype letdown. The approval will not create an
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"instant market" for products, because the fiber medium still
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faces several important implementation stumbling blocks.
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Over time, a more stable standard may help the FDDI market. This
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year, users will see FDDI offerings from vendors that are not
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"FDDI shops," such as Digital Equipment Corp. (Maynard, Mass.) and
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Unisys Corp. (Blue Bell, Pa.). This support from large vendors
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will further open the FDDI market and give users a broader vendor
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choice.
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Although stable standards may spur some companies to begin
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offering FDDI solutions, these companies will probably be more
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influenced by DEC and Unisys than by ANSI. In a sense, then, the
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FDDI boom will coincide with -- not result from -- the passage of
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the standard.
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With the standards in place, FDDI must now face two critical
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obstacles to its implementation: price and interoperability.
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Price is, perhaps, the more important issue, as users must first
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be able to afford the FDDI network before dealing with
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interoperability problems. And the only thing that will drive
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FDDI prices down is demand.
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A "Catch-22," you say? Yes, but not forever. As networking
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advances, there will be more customers who "must have" FDDI. And,
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as more of these users move toward an FDDI backbone, vendors will
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price their products more competitively. However, such price wars
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may be several years in coming.
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nteroperability may not be as far away. As networking moves
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toward multivendor interoperability and interconnectivity, vendors
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are moving toward interoperability. In addition, industry groups
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such as the SMT Development Forum will set up testing laboratories
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where vendors can test their wares along with those of their
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competitors.
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The approval of the FDDI standard will affect neither price nor
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interoperability. So, bottom line: Don't expect fireworks when
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the standard is passed. All the standard really means is that you
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won't have to change floppies any more to implement the latest
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version of the SMT document. However, keep an eye on your primary
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vendors -- chances are they're planning to pull FDDI rabbits out
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of their hats in the very near future.
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PRESS TO SELECT
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1 Review results again
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5 Start a new search
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6 Leave System
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Total charges thus far: $11.00
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-> 6
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Charges:
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System Access: $1.25
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Database Charges:
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1 Searches: $10.00
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Total Charges: $11.25
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Logoff 0670657 27Aug90 22:25 EST
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Thank you for using EasyNet
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This has been File #2 of Modernz 1....by Neuromancer._Modernz Boards are:
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Tessier-Ashpool:(908)830-8835 & (908)269-9560
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The Sages Hut: (908)269-7042
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Look for more as soon as we find a new topic....
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[2] Tfiles: (1-8,?,Q) : |