Connecting to Ethernet

[tlang@freeway.apana.org.au (Tony Langdon)]

It's 22 Nov 96  06:30:19,
We'll return to dempson@actrix.gen.nz and All's
discussion of Connecting to Ethernet

 de> Yes they could - machines capable of running TCP/IP could run SLIP or
 de> PPP over a direct serial connection (SLIP is "Serial Line Internet
 de> Protocol", after all).

Correct. :-)

 de> If you can plug a dumb terminal into the port, then it is not an
 de> Ethernet port.

Again, this is right.  Dumb terminals can't "talk" TCP/IP, they use
simple RS-232 (usually).

 de> All that would be needed to support this is an intelligent terminal
 de> server that can be configured to run SLIP or PPP over some ports and
 de> ASCII-only sessions over other ports.

Even a Linux box could do this, though it's not reccommended for high
loads...

 de> The type of cable isn't conclusive - 10Base-T cables have enough wires
 de> to run a serial connection, though it would be rather confusing to use
 de> the same wiring for two physically incompatible connections.

We have this kind of arrangement at work, and one has to go back to the
main hub to determine if the port is connected to an Ethernet or a
serial interface.  While confusing, I suppose the up side is that the
same cable can be quickly reconneccted to take a different kind of
workstation (e.g. upgrading from a dumb terminal to TCP/IP machine).

However, the decision to use the same type of connector for both RS-232
and Ethernet could have been due to a large bulk order of these
connections.  Who knows? :-)

... It's a bird!.. No!  It's a plane!...  SPLAT!!!
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