Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!faline!thumper!ulysses!andante!mit-eddie!bbn!uwmcsd1!marque!uunet!munnari!ditmela!smart From: smart@ditmela.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Multi-protocol wide area networks Message-ID: <1698@ditmela.oz> Date: 12 Jul 88 09:42:11 GMT Reply-To: smart@ditmelb.oz.au (Robert Smart) Organization: CSIRO, Division of Information Technology, Australia Lines: 23 When creating a wide area network for the academic and research community it seems desirable to be able to run a variety of middle level protocols: TCP/IP, DECNET, OSI, UUCP, ACSnet. The only choice I know of that can do this is X.25. The trouble with an X.25 network for TCP/IP and DECNET is that you have to have a host to gateway between each local ethernet and the wide area network. What I would like is an X.25 switch which knows how to do TCP/IP and DECNET and OSI/CLN gatewaying to a local ethernet. Something like this: host-------X.25-switch---------wide area network | | ---------------------------- ethernet Hosts that want to be connected to the X.25 network could be, but most would get their network access from their LAN connection. Is there anything like this around? Or planned? Or does somebody have a better idea? Bob Smart