{                    ABOUT NDIS AND ARTISOFT'S AI-NDIS
{                  =====================================

   NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) is a specification for
   hardware and software communication at the transport layer between the
   protocol layer and the MAC (Media Access Control) layer. The following
   diagram shows the arrangement of a simple NDIS stack.

                                  __________________________________
       SERVICE LAYER              LAN Programs
                                  __________________________________
       TRANSPORT LAYER            Protocol Driver
                                  Network Adapter NDIS MAC drive
                                  __________________________________
       HARDWARE LAYER             Network Adapter
                                  __________________________________

   AI-NDIS.EXE is Artisoft's NDIS compatible interface protocol driver.
   AI-NDIS allows LANtastic's NETBIOS to communicate with an NDIS MAC
   driver.  AI-NDIS translates NDIS format packets into a format that
   LANtastic can read.  AI-NDIS also translates packets prepared by
   LANtastic's NETBIOS into NDIS format.  This allows the LANtastic Network
   Operating system to run on any network adapter with an NDIS driver,
   including Ethernet, Token-Ring and Arcnet adapters.  To function with
   LANtastic, your adapter must have an NDIS MAC (Media Access Control)
   driver.  The following diagram shows how AI-NDIS and LANtastic fit in an
   NDIS stack.

                                 __________________________________
       SERVICE LAYER              SERVER
                                  REDIR
                                 __________________________________
       TRANSPORT LAYER
               protocol layer     AILANBIO
                                  AI-NDIS
                                 ----------------------------------
               MAC layer          AEXNDIS
                                 __________________________________
       HARDWARE LAYER             Network Adapter
                                 __________________________________

   NDIS also allows you to stack multiple protocols on a single adapter.
   This lets you use multiple protocol drivers  (such as LANtastic and UNIX
   network TSRs) on the same adapter.  With this configuration you gain the
   benefit of interoperability with many NDIS compatible networks and
   systems.  The following diagram is an example of multiple protocol
   stacking with NDIS using a LANtastic adapter and AI-NDIS.


                                   LANtastic    NetWare      UNIX
                                 _____________ ___________ ___________
       SERVICE LAYER              SERVER
                                  REDIR          NETX         NFS
                                 _____________ ___________ ___________
       TRANSPORT LAYER
               protocol layer     AILANBIO       IPX          TCP/IP
                                  AI-NDIS
                                 -------------------------------------
                                           Protocol Manager
                                 -------------------------------------
               MAC layer                       AEXNDIS
                                 _____________________________________
       HARDWARE LAYER             AE-3 or NodeRunner Network Adapter
                                 _____________________________________

{   Note: Using AI-NDIS.EXE does not guarantee access to LANtastic servers
{   and servers running other protocols.  The network software for
{   LANtastic must not conflict with any other any other system software.

   In some cases, such as with Microsoft's LAN Manager or IBM's LAN Server,
   the system applications are so similar to AI-NDIS or LANtastic that they
   interfere with each other's ability to work properly.  In such cases,
   the applications or systems cannot be run on the same machine because of
   this incompatibility.

   There is no limit to the number of protocols or systems that can be
   loaded or accessed when using NDIS as long as there is no software
   conflict at the service or transport levels.