Dennis Blackburn wrote in a message to All:
 DB> I want to thank everyone who responded to my plea for help
 DB> with our NetWare 3.11 network and the CD-ROM in the server. 
 DB> As it turns out it really can't be done.
That is probably true.
 DB> So, our options are 1) not use it (not very cost effective),
Well, that's always an option.
 DB> 2) migrate to another NOS (like NT [shudder]),
This is kind of ridiculous, just for CD-ROM access.
 DB> 3) migrate to Intra-NetWare (but I'm a 3.x CNA),
If you are making the commitment to stick with NetWare as a server, I think 
upgrading to NW 4 is the way to go.  The improvements are quite striking.  
NDS takes a little understanding, but it is very powerful and can grow to 
support nearly any size organization.  On the other hand, like Unix 
networking and TCP/IP, the power of NDS gives you the opporutnity to really 
screw it up if you don't properly understand it.
 DB> or 4) upgrade to 3.12 and add the new 3.2 enhancement pack.
I would recommend against this.  Novell deliberately prices the 3.11-to-3.12 
upgrade exactly the same as a 3.11-to-4.11 upgrade, intending to compel 
migration to NW 4.  It really is an enormous improvement, even if you might 
feel lost for a short time.
 DB> We are not sure what we are going to do yet, but again, thanks 
 DB> for all the help I received.
If all you want is a bunch of CD-ROMs, there are a lot of options you don't 
mention.  One good choice would be to dump a few hundred dollars into a 
Microtest Discport, which is a little black box with a SCSI connector on one 
end and an Ethernet connector on the other end: you plug the SCSI connector 
into up to 7 CD-ROM drives and you plug the Ethernet connector into your LAN.
Another extremely cheap option, especially if the CD-ROM drives require no 
security management, would be to put a Linux machine on your LAN and install 
NetWare server emulation using the mars_nwe package.  Unlike the Discport, 
this would also support cheaper IDE CD-ROM drives.  A nice side benefit to 
Linux is that you can make all of the CD-ROMs appear to be a single volume 
using a single driver letter on each client, with each physical CD-ROM 
distinguished as a subdirectory below the root of the volume.
 
-- Mike
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