{WSU/ISP faculty: this page describes the standard CLL network programs and how to use them}
NOTE: This Web page has directions for running your network applications. Using either Windows or the Macintosh, you can keep these directions on the screen and scroll through them while you are also running one or more of the applications. If you want help on this, use the e-mail link below.
The Data Center, as of March 1996, is attempting to establish a standard set of network programs (more commonly called network applications) that we will install for all users. We will also do what we can to support home network installations using the WSU PPP software. The programs that you can use at home are usually the same ones that we will install for you at work. Where there are differences, we can install the home applications on your computer at work, at your request.
To request support beyond what we offer here, to suggest additional information to be included on this Web page, to request or suggest different software, or to say hi, use the e-mail link below.
e-mail: drbowen@cll.wayne.edu Send e-mail to David Bowen
There are two general classifications of network applications; LAN applications and Internet applications. Although these are separate, the distinction is not always clear. For more information on the difference, see "The LAN compared to the Internet", below.
The network applications support all essential network facilities, including
To get help or to make other suggestions or requests, use the e-mail link below.
e-mail: drbowen@cll.wayne.edu Send e-mail to David Bowen
Within CLL, your LAN (Local Area Network) connection and your Internet connection share a common wiring system, the Ethernet. You are not connected to the LAN unless you login. You do not need to login to your Internet connection; you will, however, have to login to some of the Internet sites that you will want to use. Your LAN and Internet connections are in a "T" configuration with your computer, as illustrated below. This means that you can have your Internet connection without logging in to the LAN, and either connection can be disrupted without disrupting the other. If the disruption is on the common leg of the T, both connections will be disrupted. This distinction is important to us in troubleshooting.
This diagram carries some useful information in troubleshooting. The Ethernet connection at the head of the red T is shared by everyone in CLL. If only your LAN connection is down, then that involves the head of the T, and everyone's LAN connection should be down. A similar argument holds for the mainframe; if only your mainframe connection is down, then everyone's mainframe connection should be down. If only you are affected, then both of your connections should be down. So if you report a bad connection, one of the important points we will seek to determine is whether others are affected also. That tells us where to look. That being said, the Ethernet wiring is very dependable. We have had many more problems with desktop hardware such as hard drives than we have with the Ethernet.
Networks are about sharing -- sharing information, sharing programs, sharing hardware, etc. The LAN provides tighter, higher-speed sharing than the Internet, but it is generally confined within CLL. The exceptions to this are that you can send mail from the LAN mail system to the Internet, and in sharing files over the Internet, this can include files stored on the LAN. The Internet has a broader reach -- the whole world -- but you cannot share files as directly, you cannot share programs, and you cannot share hardware.
We need to make a distinction about sharing programs. There is free software on the Internet, and it is meant to be shared. On the LAN however, with a LAN license, we can fewer copies of up-to-date commercial software such as Word, and share them, on the basis that we will not all be using the fewer copies at the same time. You cannot do this type of sharing over the Internet.
In summary, the LAN and the Internet are not in competition, but complement each other.
The LAN is a Local Area Network, a network that connects computers within a restricted reach, usually a building or a floor of a building. For example, the CLL LAN connects computers on the second floor of the AAB building. Generally, there are userids, accounts and passwords. There is a high level of connectivity, including file sharing, equipment sharing, establishment of workgroups, and e-mail. The high level of sharing means that users must identify themselves with id and password to protect the shared resources. There are two general types of LANs: client-server and peer.
For client-server LANs, there is a central computer that controls the shared resources. For example, shared files are stored on the server hard drive. For a shared printer, the printing is sent to the server, which controls the print queue. Novell Netware is the most popular of all LANs, and is a client-server LAN. If a computer does not log in to the LAN, they do not have access to any of the shared resources.
Peer LANs consist of computers that can share resources with each other. Each user of a computer decides which resources (files, printers, etc.) connected to or stored on that computer can be shared, and then each of the other computers can use those designated resources, after logging in. Windows for Workgroups is an example of a peer LAN. Macintosh computers also have a built-in peer LAN that can be enabled or disabled.
Many LANs can share the same wiring. For example, on one Ethernet segment in AAB we have two Novell LANs and several Macintosh peer LANs. At one point we also had a Windows for Workgroups LAN in operation. Windows 95 can also operate as a peer LAN. However, below we will concentrate on the CLL LAN with the CLL_DATA_CENTER server.
The CLL LAN has a typical file sharing setup in that each user has a private LAN drive (G drive for PCs, USERS / userid folder for Macs, e.g. the DRBOWEN folder inside the USERS folder, in the CLL_CATA_CENTER drive icon) that is similar to the local hard drive (the C drive) except that the files are located on the LAN. Why would you want to do this? There are several possible reasons:
Note that you will not have access to these files until you log in to the LAN. At that point, for Macs, you will see the CLL_DATA_CENTER drive icon on your screen.
Files on the LAN are organized in drives and directories for PC users or in folders for Macintosh users. Both are examples of hierarchical file systems; that is, files are arranged in an outline structure. The drive/directory and the folder structures are simply different representations of the same concept, so that PCs and Macs can both access the same structure; Netware presents each type of computer with its own representation.
Now that we have covered file organization for Macs compared to PCs, let's move on to sharing files between individual computers. We will use the PC language of drives and directories; Mac users should understand that they will see the drive as the highest-level folder, and directories as folders within folders.
Each user has a LAN drive for their unit (e.g. ISP or Student Services) and another for CLL as a whole. The unit drive is
Each user also has a LAN drive for CLL. The college drive is
Sharing files is very simple:
There is nothing more to it than that. Most programs will not allow more than one user to access a file at the same time, but sequential use is just as simple as using the file.
Without connecting to a LAN, it is difficult for PCs and Macs to share files with each other. There are three common problems:
The LAN corrects the first problem. Files stored on the LAN have a common format, regardless of their origin. Files are converted to from the original format to the common format as they are being saved. As they are read, they are converted from the common format to the appropriate format for that computer.
The LAN help with the second problem. Many of the major word processors now have the same file format for both Macs and PCs, if the corresponding program versions are used. For example, Word 6.0 for Windows corresponds with Word 5.0 for Macintosh and the document files can be shared transparently. The only quibble is that fonts with the same name actually are slightly different for Macs and PCs, so that words may wrap from line to line slightly differently.
{CLL/WSU}
If you would like to create a workgroup with a private shared drive, just ask. Many such groups already exist. We will need to know the name of the group and the membership. It takes about five minutes, so there is no reason to hesitate.
Shared printing is a common example of sharing hardware over a LAN. A dedicated printer is used relatively rarely, and most of the time it just sits there. This is not a good use of money, or of an expensive piece of equipment. It makes much more fiscal sense to connect a printer to the LAN and keep it busier. To make up for that terrible fifteen- or twenty-foot walk, let's make it a better printer; faster, 600 or 1200 dpi, color, multiple trays for easier letterhead and envelopes. Ten people can easily share a top-quality printer and still save money for the unit. This is a legitimate example of doing more with less. ISP will soon (March 1996) have two shared printers that can accept input from Macs and PCs transparently.
Macintosh computers have an insurmountable hardware conflict between the LAN and the printer port. In the "Network" control panel, you must choose either an Ethernet or EtherTalk connection, used for the LAN, or a LocalTalk connection, used for the printer port. In other words, a Macintosh computer cannot connect to Ethernet and to the printer port at the same time. (This conflict does not involve the Internet connection, only the LAN connection.) There are four possibilities:
The CLL LAN Server has a CD-ROM drive, which we will get around to putting up on the LAN soon, so that everyone can have access. Sharing a FAX modem makes excellent sense; everyone can share the phone line and send and receive FAXes from their personal computer. Almost any piece of hardware can be shared over the LAN.
Software can also be shared, but there are some restrictions that must be attended to. Software licenses these days permit one copy to be used per license, and that copy can be used on more than one computer, as long as there is only one user at any given time. The per-license cost is often lower than the individual cost, so there is not a large penalty for buying more licenses. Nevertheless, sharing programs like spreadsheets and databases makes more sense, since they are not used as frequently as word processors.
The unit needs to pay some attention to playing by the rules, however. LANs are obviously an establishment in which it is easy to violate the license by having more users than paid for, or even by bootlegging a copy so that everyone can use it. However, software companies know this also, and finding violators on a LAN is much more productive than finding individual violators.
The advantages of shared software are:
Most LANs support e-mail, and Novell Netware is no exception. The software comes in several layers, however. Netware has the capacity to send and receive messages in the name of users. However, it is a software layer called Mercury Mail that we actually use to do this. And a final layer of software, the mail reader, Pegasus Mail or PMail provides the user interface. This set of software provides local mail (within CLL) and Internet mail using the base address cll.wayne.edu. We can use a different mail reader than PMail without disturbing the basic arrangements. Eudora is a common alternative that many people prefer.
For a general discussion of the Internet, see the end of this section. First, we will describe the most common applications. The descriptions are primarily about Internet use on campus, but if you have a home computer with a modem, and if you install the free PPP (Point to Point Protocol) software that Wayne State will give you at no cost, then you can install all of the programs mentioned here at home. With PPP in place, they will work at home exactly as they will on campus. The differences are that
If any one of your Internet connections is working, they should all work, unless the specific system you are trying to access is down. The Internet is the computer communications method used on campus, so we access the campus mainframe computers this way. Presently, most WSU mainframes are IBM mainframes or compatibles. The standard IBM terminal form mainframe connections was the Model 3270. These days, nobody uses those anymore. In its place we use software that makes your computer act like a Model 3270, called a 3270 emulator. Any program that has "3270" in its name is almost certainly a 3270 emulator.
You use a 3270 emulator to connect to a particular mainframe system by entering the Internet address of the system. These addresses are:
Some 3270 terminals had as many as 24 PF (Program Function) keys, number PF1 through PF24. One thing you should know about your 3270 emulator is how to generate those twenty-four keystrokes.
Also, the 3270 had three PA keys numbered PA1 through PA3. PA3 is used to clear the screen and continue computing in situations where "More" or "Holding" appears in the bottom right of the screen. If you use MTS, "SysReq" sometimes appears in the bottom right. This is cleared by PA1. You need to know how to generate PA1 and PA3 in your 3270 emulator.
Finally, almost everyone is familiar with the use of <Tab> to generate a new line on the mainframe, instead the <Enter> or <Return> key.
This is a PC program and is the 3270 emulator we are currently (March 1996) installing. The icon is two hand shaking in a line from lower left to upper right, with "3270" going from upper left to lower right.
This is a PC program and was the first 3270 emulator that we installed. The icon is a large red and yellow Q with WS 3270 inside. C&IT is no longer supporting this program and so the Data Center is replacing it.
This is the Macintosh 3270 emulator that we are installing. It is usually installed as a PROFS icon. This also serves as a CMS connection. If you want to connect to one of the other mainframe systems, let us know.
This is the Browser for the World Wide Web (WWW or The Web) that we are currently installing. There are several versions, from 1.0 through 2.0. Our experience with PC versions above 1.0 is that they lock up computers, and we are reluctant to install it at this time. Macs have no such problem that we can see.
This program transfers files from one Internet location to another, using the File Transfer Protocol or FTP. One side of the transfer must be an FTP Server, while the other side is an FTP Client. WS_FTP is an FTP Client, so you can interchange files with any FTP Server using this programs. Some useful FTP Servers are:
Most FTP Servers, including the CLL LAN Server, will accept logins either by "guest" or by "anonymous." Access is restricted, but you can transfer files this way.
Gopher is a precursor to The Web. The content is purely text, and there is little or no interactivity, but it is still a very common method for all sorts of organizations to distribute information.