Re: Connecting to Ethernet

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

Toby Reiter <str4552@OBERLIN.EDU> wrote:

> Well, all I know is that they're the exact same ports and cables 
> used by all Ethernet capable computers--Macs, Ibm's, etc.-- (in dorm rooms,
> computing center, etc.) These other computers all have TCP/IP
> capabilities, so these could NOT be serial cables.

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

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

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


However, if the machine has a built-in 10Base-T or AAUI port, it makes
more sense to hook directly into Ethernet.

(An aside: the Mac SE has a slot, so one possibility is that these
machines might have an Ethernet card installed.  If so, there is no
problem plugging them into a 10Base-T connector.)

> The email host is a VMS Alpha server. The majority of the ethernet capable
> computers use telnet to connect to the network, so I distinctly doubt it
> is sent only be Kermit. (However, access to TCP/IP is only available 
> through ethernet, and _not_ by modem connection.)

I think this is what is happening:

1. The machines which have TCP/IP access simply use a Telnet connection
to the E-Mail server.  The individual machines may be connected to a
10Base-T hub, or over a serial connection to a hub or terminal server.

2. Dumb terminals (or computers emulating them) must be connected via a
serial line to a terminal server, which provides the Telnet connection
to the E-Mail server.  (Alternatively, they may be connected directly to
a serial port in the E-Mail server or another host.)  Some facility is
provided to allow file transfer via Kermit for these machines.