 Integrating
Macintosh Computers into Your Network
Edward L. Haletky
How do you network a disparate group of computers that are using
distinctly different communication protocols? How do you join Appletalk,
TCP/IP, and Appleshare to organize a file-sharing server usable
by Apple Macintosh computers when the file-sharing server is not
from Apple? How do you take Appletalk printers and allow them to
be used from your network of disparate computers?
History
I started with a Macintosh network and I soon branched out to
UNIX workstations, Linux servers, and Windows platforms. My simple
network evolved into a nightmare of cabling and integration problems.
Because the network started as a Macintosh network, it was easy
to think of the network from that perspective, but it caused some
problems as solutions to the file-sharing problem began to appear.
The following products were tried and rejected due to performance
issues, uptime issues, or general misconceptions by me or the program
authors.
Item Performance Uptime Misconception
Orange Micro's PC Card for Macintosh *** ***
Insignia Solution's Softwindows *** ***
Tenon Intersystems's MachTen *** ***
Columbia Appletalk Package (CAP) ***
The first three options above were Macintosh-centric; the last
one, CAP, was UNIX-centric, yet did not meet my changing needs.
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