Hiya.Alot has been asked about EasyNet...some folks thought it was a new system that could be used to access outdials,much like SprintNet's PC Pursuit service. However,yours truly went thru the trouble of actually getting an account on EasyNet (a Telebase System),and here is a buffered account of what I found. EasyNet is in fact,a database network,on which you can scan a variety of text files updated at a variety of intervals,from daily to weekly to whenever. I have no idea what others have done on this system,but for those who are interested,it can be accessed via SprintNet(Telenet) at 21549;CompuNet at HostName:Telebase;and via TymNet at Terminal ID: 'A' and Login:EasyNet. A Buffered Account of a typical database scan follows: Please enter the database name as you know it. (Use B to back up.) -> netweaver Searching......................................... This database is not currently being updated by its producers and is not searchable through this service at this time. PRESS TO SELECT * Main Menu * 1 EasyNet-I System helps select the database 2 EasyNet-II You name the database 3 SmartSCAN Scan a group of databases 4 Instructions, Database directory 5 NEW! This Month: FREE Marketing Scan; Database Updates H for Help, C for Commands Total charges thus far: $0.25 -> 2 Please enter the database name as you know it. (Use B to back up.) -> netline Searching....................................... ** SUBJECT TERMS SEARCH GUIDE ** NOTE: This is a general search tutorial for NewsNet databases. The examples given below may not fit the database you have selected; however, the search guidelines are valid for each NewsNet database. ENTRY METHOD: Enter subject terms; omit punctuation and words like the, of, for, on, at, in, to, upon, etc. The minimum length of each subject term is 2 characters; the maximum length is 20 characters. greenhouse gases fiber optic cable TRUNCATION: Use the WILD LETTER slash (/) to search variable word endings, or to truncate words longer than 20 characters. The minimum length of each truncated subject term is 3 characters, not counting the WILD LETTER slash. USE: superconduct/ TO GET: superconductors, superconductive, superconductivity, etc. COMBINED TERMS: Use AND to search BOTH of two terms; use OR to search EITHER of two terms. Harvard AND animal patent oil shale OR oil sand/ Guidelines.to back up) oil shale OR oil sand/INE/). Type H for Search Guidelines. (or type B to back up) -> easynet/ Is: EASYNET/ Correct ? (Yes/No) -> y We have no reason to believe that errors exist in the data or services furnished. If there are any such errors the parties hereto have no liability for any consequential, incidental or punitive damages. No warranty, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to those of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose are made. Any liability is limited to the amount paid by the customer to Telebase. System is now searching the newsletter you selected, copyrighted 1990 and available through NewsNet, Inc. Accessing Network...........Completed. Accessing Database Host.....Completed. Logging on..................Completed. Selecting Database..........Completed. Submitting Search...........Completed. Nothing was retrieved. No charge for this search. If you wish, you may type SOS for online human assistance with your search. PRESS TO SELECT * Main Menu * 1 EasyNet-I System helps select the database 2 EasyNet-II You name the database 3 SmartSCAN Scan a group of databases 4 Instructions, Database directory 5 NEW! This Month: FREE Marketing Scan; Database Updates H for Help, C for Commands Total charges thus far: $0.50 -> 2 Please enter the database name as you know it. (Use B to back up.) -> netline Searching........................................ Guidelines.to back up)..........................INE/). Type H for Search Guidelines. (or type B to back up) -> telenet/ Is: TELENET/ Correct ? (Yes/No) -> y System is now searching the newsletter you selected, copyrighted 1990 and available through NewsNet, Inc. Accessing Network...........Completed. Accessing Database Host.....Completed. Logging on..................Completed. Selecting Database..........Completed. Submitting Search...........Completed. Retrieving the only full text article available on that subject. Heading # 1 Searched: 08-27-1990 22:23 ^S/^Q: stop/start; ^T: Paging ON ; ^C/(esc): interrupt (^ = CTRL/CONTROL key) Headline #1 Copyright NETLINE via NewsNet March 1990 LANS REACH OUT AT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS '90 -- PART I OF II Caryn Fox and Beth Bacheldor Although Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) was a popular subject at last month's Communications Networks '90 trade show in Washington, D.C., the real show-stealers were LAN-to-WAN and LAN-to-LAN integration and interconnection. Show attendees were overwhelmingly interested in LANs and LAN interconnection strategies. Seminar sessions -- even in the early morning -- were standing-room-only. At one session, Mary Modahl, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.), predicted that smart wiring hubs will be an important growth market in the LAN arena. Modahl said the hubs -- which provide physical layer network management, support multiple media, and provide bridging/routing capabilities -- will serve as the central point of LAN interconnection. Although they are available from only a few companies -- such as SynOptics Communications Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.), Ungermann-Bass Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.), Cabletron Inc. (East Rochester, N.H.), Proteon Inc. (Westborough, Mass.), and Chipcom Corp. (Waltham, Mass.) -- smart wiring hubs will attract large users because of their low cost and solid migration path to Fiber Distributed Data Interface, Modahl said. Smart hubs save users money by supporting a variety of media, including the upcoming 100 Mbps FDDI standard, Modahl noted. The interconnection theme also came across on the show floor, where a number of vendors launched new products and partnerships for linking disparate networks. * US Sprint (Reston, Va.) unveiled the LAN Reach product family, which links LANs via Sprint's SprintNet (formerly Telenet) nationwide public data network. Sprint said it plans to develop an array of LAN connectivity products based on several different technologies and standards. LAN Reach provides X.25 connectivity and supports the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) X.400 protocol for electronic mail, Sprint said. The X.400 interface allows LAN users to access the SprintMail E-mail messaging service, which is interconnected with many other domestic and international e-mail services. Sprint also signed an agreement to resell Eicon Technology Corp.'s (Montreal, Canada) X.25/LAN gateway and bridge products. Sprint said it is developing an integrated network management system to control the SprintNet-Eicon gateway interconnection. * Under an agreement with CrossComm Corp. (Marlborough, Mass.), General DataComm Industries Inc. (Middlebury, Conn.) will add a family of LAN bridges to its current T1 WAN product line. * BBN Communications Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.), traditionally a WAN vendor, said it will offer LAN interconnection products and services as part of its "total network offering." * NCR Comten (St. Paul, Minn.), an IBM-oriented networking vendor, announced a new Network Integration Service for users to integrate their LANs and WANs. All in all, the conference showed that the lines between local and wide area networking are fading fast. Next on the agenda? High-speed LAN/WAN interconnectivity. Many major vendors touted FDDI-compliant products at the show. On the WAN side, Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) -- an upcoming industry standard for high-speed fiber optic wide area networking -- may be loosely viewed as FDDI's WAN equivalent. As WANS and LANs integrate with each other, keep an eye out for FDDI-to-SONET products. LAN STANDARDS COME OF AGE FDDI After much debate the Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) is finally close to completion. According to Floyd Ross, chairman of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Station Management (SMT) working group, the SMT document of the emerging standard should be ready for approval within a few months. Ross predicted that by April, the SMT committee will have a document that will essentially be the SMT standard. "There are only details to work out" in the next few months, he said. However, because of the red tape still ahead, Ross said the standard will not be officially completed until early 1991. The SMT document of the 100 megabit per second, FDDI LAN specification has been a major stumbling block in completing the standard. Of the four documents -- Physical (PHY), Physical Media Dependent (PMD), Media Access Control (MAC), and SMT -- the SMT had been the center of hot debate at ANSI (see NETLINE, November '89, p. 2). According to Ross, the station manager is the focal point of network interoperability. "The station manager acts as the interface between management entities, monitors station activity, monitors station configuration and capabilities, and reconfigures the stations if there is a failure on the network," he explained. The debate was between vendors who wanted to define high-level management specifications (mostly high-end vendors) and those who wanted to keep the management capabilities basic (mostly low-end vendors). The argument from the low-end vendors was that including the high-level functionality specifications would stall the standard's passage. The final decision was to include the higher-level capabilities. The low-end vendors "realized it would be quicker to put [the higher-level procedures] in than to try and keep them out," Ross said. So, what does all this mean to the user? Right now, not much. The passage of the FDDI standard, in fact, may bring on a classic case of post-hype letdown. The approval will not create an "instant market" for products, because the fiber medium still faces several important implementation stumbling blocks. Over time, a more stable standard may help the FDDI market. This year, users will see FDDI offerings from vendors that are not "FDDI shops," such as Digital Equipment Corp. (Maynard, Mass.) and Unisys Corp. (Blue Bell, Pa.). This support from large vendors will further open the FDDI market and give users a broader vendor choice. Although stable standards may spur some companies to begin offering FDDI solutions, these companies will probably be more influenced by DEC and Unisys than by ANSI. In a sense, then, the FDDI boom will coincide with -- not result from -- the passage of the standard. With the standards in place, FDDI must now face two critical obstacles to its implementation: price and interoperability. Price is, perhaps, the more important issue, as users must first be able to afford the FDDI network before dealing with interoperability problems. And the only thing that will drive FDDI prices down is demand. A "Catch-22," you say? Yes, but not forever. As networking advances, there will be more customers who "must have" FDDI. And, as more of these users move toward an FDDI backbone, vendors will price their products more competitively. However, such price wars may be several years in coming. nteroperability may not be as far away. As networking moves toward multivendor interoperability and interconnectivity, vendors are moving toward interoperability. In addition, industry groups such as the SMT Development Forum will set up testing laboratories where vendors can test their wares along with those of their competitors. The approval of the FDDI standard will affect neither price nor interoperability. So, bottom line: Don't expect fireworks when the standard is passed. All the standard really means is that you won't have to change floppies any more to implement the latest version of the SMT document. However, keep an eye on your primary vendors -- chances are they're planning to pull FDDI rabbits out of their hats in the very near future. PRESS TO SELECT 1 Review results again 5 Start a new search 6 Leave System Total charges thus far: $11.00 -> 6 Charges: System Access: $1.25 Database Charges: 1 Searches: $10.00 Total Charges: $11.25 Logoff 0670657 27Aug90 22:25 EST Thank you for using EasyNet This has been File #2 of Modernz 1....by Neuromancer._Modernz Boards are: Tessier-Ashpool:(908)830-8835 & (908)269-9560 The Sages Hut: (908)269-7042 Look for more as soon as we find a new topic.... Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253