At 02:12 PM 23/2/95 -0500, Guy Smith wrote:
>An aside: I was curious as to why Lan Manager or Netware was required.
>On the 3K side we now have BSD sockets, and most TCP/IP stacks on PCs
>support WinSock, so why the restriction?
 
Just a guess...but perhaps it was they supported a hierarchical file
structure?  TCP/IP is simply a transport not a file access mechanisms.  The
requirement, I thought, was for LanMan/3000 and Netware/3000, as they have
the code to treat files as volumes AND do networking.
 
I still wonder, though, about the LaserROM access from Windows transport.
HP insist that the MSCDEX driver, which as a DOS TSR, must be loaded with a
DOS-based transport if it is to access the 3000 device.  That makes sense,
as MSCDEX can't link to a Windows driver.
 
But why do they need MSCDEX anyway?  For the most part, MSCDEX is there to
make a CDROM look like a disk volume (eg H:).  We've seen, using NetBeui,
IPX/SPX and even TCP/IP, that you can have Network drives that exist under
Windows alone.  I think it is possible to have a piece of simple server
software on the 3000 (and corresponding Windows driver) that would emulate a
remote hard disk.  Given that it is Read-Only, the task should be greatly
simplified.
 
*UNLESS* they are using specific MSCDEX calls such as the ADPCM (sound)
functions, or media info calls, or other device control calls (eg. eject!).
Even if such calls are used, it still may be possible if a device driver was
created which passed the calls using a Win-Net installed interrupt procedure.
 
At the moment though, I suspect it operates as a standard disk volumes,
since it works over a WFWG lan on a client with no MSCDEX driver.  So if it
works for WFWG (and in our case using NetBios on TCP/IP transport), then it
should be possible to create a server process on the HP3000 to do the same.
 
But is it worth it?  Given the labour involved, possible future enhancments
to the product, the possible changes for Win9X and the limited number of
HP3K-based CDs...where's the return?  How many sites would go for 3K-based,
rather than PC or PC Server based?  Is it worthwhile for a 3rd party to
develop a commercial product?  If it isn't worthwhile for 3rd parties then
why would it be so for HP?  They ain't gonna get rich selling CD-Drives,
even at HP prices.
 
One thought would be that if they could develop it for MPE 5.0, then it
would probably work for HP-UX to, so the market gets considerably bigger.  I
fear though, that HP will probably work it the other way, developing for
HP-UX and not even trying for MPE.  :(
 
----
Jim Wowchuk                    Internet:    [log in to unmask]
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