🚀 go-pugleaf

We have a large number of Macs at the University. Most of them 
(nearly all) are only connected to LocalTalks. We plan to connect 
the LocalTalks to the large university ethernet backbone via 
Liaison, and use NCSA Telnet (maybe with the MacTCP drivers) for 
telnet connections to mainframes (mostly VAX/VMS and Unix systems). 
We don't want to use FastPaths or GatorBoxes as the LocalTalk-
Ethernet bridges as they are too expensive.

The LocalTalk-Ethernet bridge must be able to recognise tcp/ip-in-
LocalTalk packets, unpack them, and send them as tcp/ip packets on 
the ethernet. Liaison does not handle this, but can forward them as 
EtherTalk packets.

Is it possible to set up one (for the whole university) FastPath or 
a GatorBox as a EtherTalk-tcp/ip bridge and have it perform the 
neccesary conversion?

The scenario would be:
* The Macs are connected to LocalTalk
* NCSA Telnet sends out tcp-in-LocalTalk packets
* A Liaison bridge connects the LocalTalk with the ethernet backbone
* The Liaison bridge forwards the tcp-in-LocalTalk packets as tcp-
  in-EtherTalk packets
* The FastPath/GatorBox unpacks the tcp-in-EtherTalk packets, and 
  sends them as tcp/ip packets

Of course, it must work in the other direction as well.

Would it work? If not, why? Are the alternative solutions?

-- 
Roland Mansson, Lund University Computing Center, Box 783, S220 07 Lund, Sweden
Phone: +46-46107436   Fax: +46-46138225   Bitnet: roland_m@seldc52
Internet: roland_m@ldc.lu.se   or   roland_m%ldc.lu.se@uunet.uu.net
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