Running SPITFIRE on a LANtastic Network
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SF-LAN.DOC
Running SPITFIRE v3.51 on a LANtastic Network
SPITFIRE - Version 3.51
Copyright (C) by Mike Woltz, 1987-1996
Buffalo Creek Software
RUNNING SPITFIRE 3.51 ON A LANTASTIC NETWORK
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Running SPITFIRE v3.51 on a Local Area Network allows maximum speed as
well as capability of all multi-node strategies. While hardware that
is required is considerable, LAN systems allow for performance not
possible using a multitasking system.
Information discussed in this section while specific to the LANtastic
Network is similar to other LAN systems such as Novell Netware.
Memory Issues:
-------------------
Several network drivers must be loaded depending upon the adapter
in use, whether the system is a server or a workstation, their
associated resources such as CD-ROM drives, etc. In addition, the
DOS SHARE program must be loaded on all workstations. If the
machine is an 80386 or greater which has high memory available,
any or all of these drivers can be loaded there, freeing up
conventional memory. Many people report problems loading the
server program into high memory, but most other drivers will load
there with little difficulty.
Hardware Requirements:
---------------------
A Local Area Network contains at least one server and a workstation.
Some just contain servers, meaning that they all share resources.
While fast CPUs such as 80386, i486 or pentium machines yield superior
performance, 8086 and 8088 based compatibles can be used. In
addition, diskless workstations which boot from ROM then connect to
the Network can be utilized.
Each machine must have a Network card installed. The 2MB/sec cards
made by LANtastic or Ethernet Compatible 10MB/sec cards can be used.
With proper drivers, Arcnet and Token Ring adapters will work too.
One 8 or 16 bit slot per CPU is required where appropriate. Cables
and terminating resistors are supplied with the Network Startup Kits.
A LANtastic network is known as a "Peer-To-Peer Network". Another
popular type of network is known as a "Client Server Network."
The later requires the server to be dedicated to honoring requests
from associated requester systems or Clients. It is possible to
set up LANtastic as a Client Server network by dedicating the server
through the use of the ALONE program or by just not running anything
else locally on the server. Servers such as this will run much
faster than those where local console activities are permitted.
Starting It All Up:
-------------------
LANtastic provides an excellent software installation program which
is utilized for each server and workstation on the Network. After
installing all necessary hardware, the software must be installed.
If any nodes utilize the SPITFIRE printer option, the LANtastic
software must be configured accordingly so the printer can be
shared across the Network. Setting redirector buffers to anything
other than the default may yield unpredictable printouts. If the
default number of buffers cannot be used, experimentation may be
necessary to determine the correct number of buffers for the LAN.
Set up a separate SPITFIRE directory for each machine, and edit
each CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to both load all the LANtastic
programs used and to automatically boot SPITFIRE. Set CONFIG.SYS
FILES= to the number of nodes multiplied by 25 files per node on
servers. For example, if the Network has one server and three
workstations associated with it, and all have SPITFIRE nodes set
up on them, set FILES=100 on the server and FILES=25 on each
associated workstation. These numbers might need to be increased
further when used with net-mail systems.
Workstations that boot when the associated server is still
booting or not available will wait until the server comes online.
This will occasionally yield the familiar "gleep" sound known by
anyone who has been near a LANtastic Network! Once the server
finishes its boot routine, it will bring up its SPITFIRE Node and
all others on associated workstations will follow.
In the event that any machines on the Network use OS/2 instead of
DOS, it is important to remember that DOS does NOT recognize any
drive or partition that has been formatted with the OS/2 High
Performance File System (HPFS). It is therefore recommended that
any HPFS partitions be the final drive on the system so that the
LAN will not have to "skip over" a drive that is not available.
If you have a CD-ROM drive on the network, be sure to load MSCDEX
after REDIR in autoexec.bat. Otherwise, the CD-ROM drive will not
be available to other nodes on the network.
Multitasking On A LAN:
----------------------
Each machine, whether a server or a workstation, can have at least
one node installed. In order to install other nodes on the Network,
additional machines can be added. At this time, DESQview can ONLY
be used on WORKSTATIONS! Windows 3.1 can be used on both servers
and workstations providing LANtastic 4.0 or greater is in use.
Running DESQview on a LANtastic server will cause the system to
crash. DESQview 386, Windows 3.1 (in 386 Enhanced Mode), and
Windows 95 can be successfully run on a workstation yielding as
many nodes as memory and available serial ports will allow. Refer
to the appropriate documentation (SF-WIN.DOC or SF-DESQ.DOC) for
running SPITFIRE under DESQview and Windows for further information.