NWLATQ.TXT;NetWare for LAT Frequently Asked Questions 23DEC94 NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION: NetWare for LAT 1.0 ABSTRACT: NetWare for LAT, Questions & Answers ----------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER THE ORIGIN OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO NOVELL. NOVELL MAKES EVERY EFFORT WITHIN ITS MEANS TO VERIFY THIS INFORMATION. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Q1. Do I need to load any extra software on the VAX? A1. Normally, no. For example, most terminal emulation products do not require special software to be loaded on the DEC host. Also, no special VAX software is needed for bi-directional printing with Novell's Meridian Super LAT CrossPrint or the SuperLAT Crossprint product from Meridian Technology. Q2. What kind of configuration changes must I make on the VAX? A2. Normally, none. Almost every host from Digital comes with the LAT protocol. If you are using LAT already, then no changes need to be made on the VAX/DEC host). If you are not currently using LAT, you will need to activate the LAT protocol. Your DEC administrator would normally do this. Q3. How many sessions are supported? A3. NetWare for LAT is licensed by the number of concurrent "users" or clients that attach to the NetWare for LAT server. Each user can open up to 4 sessions, if the emulator supports that many. If the emulator supports more than 4 sessions, then it will open a second attachment (which is transparent to the user) to support up to 4 more sessions, etc. Note that users need not log on to the server and therefore do not use an NCP connection and do not use up the number of users for NetWare. Q4. Why is NetWare for LAT more expensive than NetWare for SAA? A4. Since each user can open up to 4 sessions, a 16 user license provides up to 64 total sessions which is 4 times as many sessions as the 16 user version of NetWare for SAA, thus the higher price. Q5. Do I have to buy another copy of NetWare for use with NetWare for LAT? A5. No. NetWare for LAT comes with NetWare Runtime (3.12 and 4.01). Also, users do not need to log on to the NetWare for LAT server as a file server and therefore using NetWare for LAT does not take away logons from NetWare. NetWare for LAT uses an IPX/SPX connection (or TCP/IP or AppleTalk) not an NCP protocol connection. Q6. I currently have an emulator that will support NetWare for LAT. What do I need to use it with NetWare for LAT? A6. Most of the emulators that support NetWare for LAT provide the required drivers at no charge, but you should check with your supplier for your particular emulation software. Q7. Is a TSR required on the client? A7. This depends entirely on the emulator. Some emulators require no TSR, others use a TSR to add support for NetWare for LAT. Q8. Is NetWare for LAT supported by shareware emulators or other low-end emulators like Procomm or Crosstalk? A8. Not directly, no. But with a special TSR, from partners such as InterConnections or Firefox, any emulator that supports INT14 or the local LAT interface (INT6B) can communicate to NetWare for LAT. Most emulators have the NetWare for LAT driver built in, so no extra TSR is needed. Q9. Why is a special driver needed? A9. The driver is needed by VT emulators because they expect to communicate with an asynchronous host in character mode. The interface to NetWare for LAT is more of a block mode with special session handling. The driver is needed convert the asynchronous mode, to block mode used by the COMMEXEC. Q10. I have an emulator that uses Interrupt 14 for generic communications support, can I use it with NetWare for LAT? A10. Not directly. NetWare for LAT does not act as an asynchronous host, but third party NLM applications can emulate an asynchronous host and provide access for emulators that use INT 14. For example, Firefox provides that capability through their NOV*AX NLM and client driver. Q11. Is the emulator in LAN WorkPlace also supported? Q11. Currently, a third party product (Firefox) is required to provide support for LAN WorkPlace, but Novell is adding direct support to LAN WorkPlace so it can be used with NetWare for LAT using TCP/IP and Windows sockets. Q12. Does NetWare for LAT come with an emulator? Q13. No. NetWare for LAT provides the connectivity between NetWare (IPX/SPX, TCP/IP or AppleTalk) and a local DEC network (Ethernet/LAT). Like NetWare for SAA, a third party emulator is required to access the DEC host, or a third party product is required to provide bi-directional printing. Q14. Where would the NetWare for LAT server be installed? Q14. Since communication between the server and the DEC host, uses the LAT protocol, they must be on the same Ethernet segment. This means the NetWare for LAT server is normally co-located with the DEC hosts, but the NetWare users can be anywhere in the NetWare network. Q15. Are two network interface cards required? A15. No. With only one Ethernet card, both the LAT sessions to the DEC host and the NetWare sessions (IPX/SPX, TCP/IP or AppleTalk) to the clients would go through the same card. For improved performance though, Novell recommends 2 cards on separate segments, one for LAT communications and one for NetWare communications. Q16. How does NetWare for LAT compare to Pathworks for DOS (NetWare Coexistence) from Digital? A16. For emulation to a DEC host, Pathworks loads either LAT, DECnet or TCP/IP protocol software on the client workstation, in addition to IPX/SPX for NetWare. Emulators that support NetWare for LAT use the protocol most native to the client workstation, either IPX/SPX, TCP/IP or AppleTalk. There is no need to load LAT or DECnet on every workstation. Pathworks does provide some services, such as file services, that NetWare for LAT does not directly provide. If you want to use your VAX disk drives as network drives for your NetWare users, Pathworks as well as other software products (such as InterConnections in Seattle or TGV in Santa Cruz) can provide that type of service. These require IPX/SPX on the VAX and extra software to maintain, though. If you want to use NetWare based servers as network drives, but still provide terminal and print access to DEC hosts from NetWare client workstations, then NetWare for LAT provides a simpler, more economical solution. Q17. Is NetWare for LAT compatible with NetWare/IP? A17. Yes. NetWare/IP and NetWare for LAT can be used together to provide TCP/IP connectivity from NetWare clients to DEC hosts without loading TCP/IP on the DEC host. Q18. Is NetWare for LAT compatible with VLMs as well as NETX? A18. Yes. Since emulators using the IPX protocol communicate using the standard netware client, either VLM or NETX can be used. It should be noted that neither VLM nor NETX need be loaded for the emulator to communicate to NetWare for LAT, only IPXODI. Q19. Can I run NetWare for LAT and NetWare for SAA on the same server? A19. Yes, but NetWare for SAA must be the current version 1.3b. The recommended size and configuration of server needed to run both has not been determined. Q20. Can I run NetWare for LAT and NACS on the same server? A20. Probably not. This has not been tested because NACS users are being migrated to NetWare Connect. Q21. Can I run NetWare for LAT and NetWare Connect on the same server? A21. Yes, but a fast server is required. The recommended size and configuration of server needed to run both has not been determined. Q22. Won't the LAT protocol time out in a WAN configuration? A22. No. Since the NetWare for LAT server is normally located on the same segment as the VAX, the LAT protocol between the server and the VAX is maintained. On the client side, IPX/SPX, TCP/IP or AppleTalk is used over the WAN. Q23. Is NetWare for LAT stackable? A23. No. That is, you cannot have multiple copies of NetWare for LAT running on the server. Stackable license management is expected for the 1.1 release of NetWare for LAT. Q24. Does NetWare for LAT support X Window applications? A24. No. However, since some X server emulators use LAT to communicate with the DEC host, Novell is discussing with a few X server vendors the possibilities of using NetWare for LAT. Q25. Can a DEC Alpha machine be used for the NetWare for LAT server? A25. Currently no. When the processor independent feature is available for NetWare and NLMs, then of course NetWare for LAT as well as other applications written for NetWare will be able to run on the Alpha. Q26. Is there a Novell course available on NetWare for LAT? A26. Yes. Course number 725, a 2 day class on installing and troubleshooting NetWare for LAT. Q27. What kind of printers are supported by Meridian Super LAT CrossPrint? Q27. On the Digital side, all line printers connected to terminal servers are supported, such as LA70, LA75, LA95, as well as DEClaser printers (LN03 compatible). On the NetWare side, all line printers that can be used with NetWare are supported. Additionally, HP compatible printers with PostScript and PCL are supported. Q28. Are LPS printers supported by Meridian Super LAT CrossPrint? Q28. No. Those printers do not use LAT, but rather DECnet for the transport protocol. NetWare for LAT can only communicate with LAT based printers. To use that type of printer, a special software package is required on the VAX. Q29. Is Meridian Super LAT CrossPrint required to perform local printing? A29. No, but this type of printing depends on whether the emulator supports local printing and in some cases, whether the DEC host application can print to local printers. Most emulators support printing to locally attached printers. Depending on the emulator, printer escape characters and data that would normally go to a serial printer attached to a real VT terminal can be redirected to an LPT port (physical printer or NetWare captured printer) or sometimes to a file for printing later. Meridian Super LAT CrossPrint (and other 3rd party print services) do not require the client software to capture the printer data. With this server-base solution, printer data is sent directly to a NetWare queue. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Any trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Consult your product manuals for complete trademark information. ----------------------------------------------------------------