Conference hydra::amiga_v1

3689.0. "Amiga on DEnet" by ALLVAX::TERELLA (Mike Terella (DTN)287-3083 CTC2-1/C14) Wed Apr 18 1990 13:59

	The following is reprinted without permission from an article on 
    	page 17 of the April 2nd edition of "Digital News". 
								-MT
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	"Amiga adapts to life as as a workstation"  by Len Grzanka


	   Commodore Business Machine Inc. is readying a line of network
	adapters to enable its Amiga personal computers to serve as DEC-
	net Phase IV end nodes.  Meanwhile, third-party developers have
	written software that will allow the PCs to run DECwindows appli-
	cations.  
	   "With an Amiga, a customer is getting, for a reasonable amount
	of money, a multitasking, graphics-based computer that can double
	as a standard workstation," said Scott Opitz, product manager for
	PCs and peripherals at Commodore in West Chester, Pa.
	  Opitz said an Amiga 2000, which is fully configured for VAX con-
	nectivity and includes a  Motorola Inc. M68000 microprocessor that
	runs at 7.16 Mhz, 2 MBytes of memory, a 40-MByte hard disk, a net-
	work card and a color monitor, costs approximately $3,000.
	  The price is less than a similarly configured Macintosh from Apple
	Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., and it also compares favorably
	to third-party clones of the IBM Corp. Personal Computer, which are
	configured with a network card, windowing and communications soft-
	ware.
	   Opitz acknowledged that Commodore has had limited success selling
	to U.S. corporate users.  "We have had significantly better success
	in selling to corporate accounts in the European market," he said.
	The company hopes that the network connectivity products will help
	it crack major accounts in the United States, he added.
	   He said Commodore will introduce two $349 Ethernet Network 
	Adapters, one for TCP/IP and one for other Ethernet protocols, by 
	the end of April.  Syndesis Corp. in Brooklyn, Wis. has developed
	TSSnet for the Amiga, an implementation of Thursby Software Systems
	Inc.'s version of DECnet.  GfxBase of Milpitas Calif., offers X.11
	release 3.1, which provides TCP/IP or full DECnet end-node support 
	for DECwindows on the Amiga DOS.

	Supports 64,000 nodes

	   Syndesis' TSSnet for the Amiga supports 64,000 DECnet node 
	addresses.  It includes the Network Control Program for control of 
	line speed, network state, buffer sizes and numbers, node access data
	and  network access control; the NetMail E-mail program that is 
	compatible with VMS Mail; Network Virtual Terminal, which provides 
	multiple concurrent terminal sessions with the DECnet C-Term facility
	and VT100 emulation; Network File Copy to copy files from other nodes
	and to submit command files for execution; Task-to-Task Communications,
	which let Amiga DOS programs communicate with tasks on other DECnet
	nodes; and File Access Listener, which enables other DECnet nodes to
	gain access to files on the Amiga after verifying a user name and
	password.  TSSnet for the Amiga lists for $395.
	   GfxBase's X.11 release 3.1 enables the Amiga to function as a DEC-
	windows workstation.  It includes MIT's X.11 release 4 fonts and con-
	currently supports the DECnet and TCP/IP protocols.  According to 
	Dale Luck, a partner of GfxBase, the product supports clients that
	run on VMS 5.2 and Ultrix fro as many as 14 concurrent sessions.
	GfxBase tested interoperability with VAXs at Connectathon '90 in
	February, Luck said.
	   He said users can partition the Amiga screen to run Amiga 
	applications in one part of the display and a DECwindows environment 
	with as many as ten active windows in another partition.  A monochrome
	version is available now; a color version is in customer test and is
	scheduled for release in three months.  X11 costs $395.