|   | Panther Moderns: Easy Net 2 - You name the databasNOTICE: TO ALL CONCERNED Certain text files and messages contained on this site deal with activities and devices which would be in violation of various Federal, State, and local laws if actually carried out or constructed. The webmasters of this site do not advocate the breaking of any law. Our text files and message bases are for informational purposes only. We recommend that you contact your local law enforcement officials before undertaking any project based upon any information obtained from this or any other web site. We do not guarantee that any of the information contained on this system is correct, workable, or factual. We are not responsible for, nor do we assume any liability for, damages resulting from the use of any information on this site.
 
 
 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....
 
 [2] Tfiles: (1-8,?,Q) :
 
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