Subj : Re: Novell NetWare :)
To   : poindexter FORTRAN
From : acn
Date : Tue Jun 08 2021 17:56:00

Am 03.06.21 schrieb poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 in FSX_RETRO:

Hallo poindexter,

pF>> I started with Netware 2.2 on a Mac network running on Token Ring
[...]
ac>> Did NetWare 2.2 server really run on a Mac or was it just a client?

pF> Netware ran on a generic 386 PC. Clients were all Mac.

Ah okay, that I got it wrong :)

pF> Yep, token passing topologies were the thing back then, when Ethernet was
pF> all shared space. Before ethernet switches, collisions were a serious
pF> issue and the network could seriously degrade.

Yep. And so Token-Ring had a real advantage :)

pF> My first switched network used a 6 port 10 megabit ethernet switch as a
pF> core switch, and 24 port hubs as user switches. That was fancy stuff back
pF> then.

Oh, I don't remember what my first Ethernet setups looked like.
But at least at home, it wasn't fancy stuff :)

pF> I did a lot of stuff with ARCnet back then - seriously lenient. We'd run
pF> it on different grades of coax, accidentally plug hubs into hubs, and it
pF> still worked. Passing a token meant that it'd degrade gracefully. Having
pF> to set a network ID via jumper was a pain, though.

;-)

pF> Someone once joked that you could tell who was a network person by asking
pF> them how many syllables were in the word "coax".

Could you explain this one to me? Sorry :)
(I guess I don't have enough experience with coax networks, as I've only  
used the 10base2 'cheapernet')

pF> I was a member of a Novell user group in the SF Bay area from 1991-1996,
pF> and we'd met once at their office in San Jose. I remember being in my 20s
pF> and amazed at an office campus with day care, a spa, hair salon, day care,
pF> a food court with high chairs so you could have lunch with your kid, a
pF> pond, walking paths...

pF> Fast forward many years later and I wondered why my current office space
pF> looked familiar. My current employer had bought the Novell campus and I
pF> was working in the same place.

Nice coincidence :)

Regards,
Anna

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