Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!dogie.macc.wisc.edu!vms.macc.wisc.edu
From: yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.appletalk
Subject: LocalTalk Speeds
Message-ID: <2476@dogie.macc.wisc.edu>
Date: 27 Sep 89 19:23:10 GMT
Sender: news@dogie.macc.wisc.edu
Organization: University of Wisconsin Academic Computing Center
Lines: 33

I'm looking for advice in setting up a mac network for a student
lab. We'll need about 60 Macs to serve all the students. They
will be running MacPascal and some Fortran program almost
exclusively. I hope to have them using LaserWriters.

I know that LocalTalk, (and especially PhoneNET) is much cheaper
than Ethernet. I'm wondering if it would pay to use Ethernet, tho.

Let's say we have 15 Mac SEs hooked up to one Mac SE/30 as server,
using PhoneNET and AppleShare. The Mac SEs *will not* have hard
disks; this will prevent virus transmission and make the macs
unappealling to non lab users to use, (it's an open access lab,
anybody could walk thru and we have problems now with non lab
people using the current mac pluses w/hard disks. Too many
viruses and too many purloined copies of MS-Word floating about).

So lab users will have to boot off of floppies, no big deal.
We repeat this setup 4 times and therefore have 60 macs w/four
servers. Would 15 nodes trying to run an application like
MacPascal hopelessly bog down the SE/30? Would spending $600
extra for an Ethernet card make things more responsive?

After looking at the May 89 issue of MacUser that discusses
this my genereal impression is that Ethernet wouldn't help
that much, but the fast SE/30 would. Using DaynaTALK would
help even more and still be cheaper than Ethernet.

My main concern is that the net not become totally unusable
when it is being fully utilized, which will happen a lot.
Any comments are much appreciated.

>>>      Internet: yahnke@macc.wisc.edu        <<<
>>>   Mille voix chuchottent <>    <<<