🚀 go-pugleaf

Mike Gerard writes:
>>>>>>>>
I run the simplest possible K-Star
configuration: LoaclTalk side Net 36 on a distinct zone, Ethernet side
Net 1 called Ethernet (original, eh?), FP IP address 128.141.30.36,
no Administrator, name server on 128.141.200.5, 32 static addresses,
no options. I can see other zones happily in the chooser, and they can
see me. However, when I try to use either NCSA telnet or TCPort telnet
(with IP address 128.141.36.1) I never see any packet go out on the
Ethernet (verified on the Lanalyzer).
<<<<<<<<

We had the same problem. In IP subnetting the FastPath has two separate
IP addresses for the Ethernet side and the LocalTalk side. In K*Star it
has only a single address.  The IP addresses that you use on the LocalTalk
side must be within the same contiguous range as the FastPath's address.
I.e. if you specify 32 static addresses, you do not only specify the number
of addresses (maximum) that may be used on the LocalTalk side, but you are
also reserving the addresses themselves.  In your case they are between
128.141.30.37 and 128.141.30.68. If you use anything else, you can communicate
between nodes on the local LocalTalk, but not beyond the Kinetics box.
Incidentally, if you specify say 16 static and 16 dynamic addresses, you
have available addresses 128.141.30.37 through 52 for statically configured
telnet invocations, etc.  Dynamic assignments work backwards within the range,
the first request gets 128.141.30.68, the next ...67, etc. down to ...53.

Needless to say, that we had to revamp our IP address allocation scheme before
we could switch from IP subnetting to K*Star.  As usual, the Kinetics manuals
were of little help, and only during the third call to Kinetics Technical
Support did my tenacious prodding lead to a mutual discovery process in which
their technician probably learned as much as I.  Now, this is my penny's worth
of wisdom.  Perhaps there is another solution, but at least the people I
talked with at Kinetics did not know, and this it the only thing I found that
works.

Wolfgang N. Naegeli
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
wnn@dsunx1.dsrd.ornl.gov (128.219.96.46)
(615) 574-6143