Ben Smith
DOS-UNIX NETWORKING AND INTERNETWORKING,Michael Burgard and Kenneth Phillips John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-59516-0, $34.95
The explosion of new connections to the Internet is not from new Unix servers and workstations; it is from PCs and Macs. And it is happening despite the fact that a PC is more likely to be talking Novell's IPX/SPX than TCP/IP. DOS-UNIX Networking and Internetworking will ease the pain of connecting PCs to Unix networks and, for that matter, connecting Unix servers to PC (i.e., IPX/SPX) networks. Once the connection has been made, your PC can take advantage of the resources that Unix network users have enjoyed for years.
In a chummy style, Burgard and Phillips discuss nearly every hardware and software issue involved in this cross-platform connection. They brief
ly evaluate many products. They go into theory, practice, and installation needs for a host of methods.
The authors also explain many aspects of the Unix world and its services in terms that a DOS/Windows expert user will easily understand, for example, getty and gettydefs, UUCP, Unix E-mail, SNMP, PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), and SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol). On the PC side, they cover network cards, multiport cards, IRQs (interrupt requests) and I/O memory addresses, the separate pieces to a PC-resident protocol driver, and hundreds of other issues and products.
The book doesn't limit itself to TCP/IP and IPX/SPX. There is also information on Banyan Vines, terminal emulations over serial connections, and Internet access providers.
Burgard and Phillips' book does not have the technical depth that will let you develop products for making the connection between DOS and Unix. It covers only what you need to make the connection with products that already exist. It is not like so ma
ny network books: so much theory that you are better suited for writing a research paper than for making an actual connection. This book is all you need to make the connection real.
Prosperous Coexistence
