Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!ncar!noao!mcdsun!nud!news
From: news@nud.UUCP (Usenet News Administrator)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: What's the best NETWORK?
Message-ID: <781@sleazy.UUCP>
Date: 6 May 88 16:34:40 GMT
References: <1814@uhccux.UUCP> <1815@uhccux.UUCP>
Reply-To: Heflich@sleazy.UUCP (Geg Spooks)
Organization: Motorola GEG, Scottsdale, Az
Lines: 50


In article <1815@uhccux.UUCP> you write:
>
>We have a couple macintosh installations here and we'd like to know
>which is the best Network to set up.  
>
>Right now we're running MacServe. We're running it close to capacity
>and are having some problems.  
>
>We have a dedicated SE serving around 30 macs or so with 3 imagewriters and 
>an NTX laserwriter.  Aside from being slow, our 'Laserwriter' drivers
>are getting clobbered, and sometimes while someone is MacWrite-ing 
>something, the screen will freeze. Only recourse is to reset the machine.
>
We have 28 Macs, 4 Laserwriter Pluses 10 IBM PC's and 3 Sun 3/260 servers with 
18 clients on or TOPs net.  It is divided into 2 Zones with 2 Kinetics
Fastpath gateways and is both stable and reliable.  Our Macs are Mac Pluses and
Mac SEs
>Could these things be caused by running MacServe to it's limits, or
>does this sound like something unrelated to MacServe?  Has anyone 
>had this happen to them before?
>
Another group here runs MacServe and has experienced the simptoms with many
fewer devices then you have.

>We are thinking of moving to AppleShare.  We are waiting for the
>new version due out next month.  Does anyone have any comments on
>AppleShare?  Especially the new version that is coming out.  
>BEST FEATURES? / WORST FEATURES?
>
>How about some others, like TOPS?  
>
As I said we are using Tops for Mac 2.08, Tops for Sun 1.0 and Tops for
IBM PC 2.0.  We run it with InBox.
My Mac is running diskless, ie my system resides on one of the Sun servers.
Tops for Sun make the Suns into a Mac Fileserver but importantly (at least to
us) it allows the Suns to access all the Laserwriters on AppleTalk, which
the PCs and Macs also access.  We are using IDEs Software Through Pictures
developement Tool.  It wants to print through its own menu so haveing this
driver from Tops really helps.  Kspool couldn't do this and neither could
AppleShare.
We really like Tops.  the only complaint is that if customer support cannot
answer your question right away and promise a call back, they don't.
>
>
Alan Heflich
USENET {backbone}!nud!sleazy!Heflich
Internet  Heflich @ Dockmaster.arpa

My employer has not part in this reply and probably wishes me to express that