Roy J. Tellason wrote in a message to all:
 RJT> I've gotten a hold of some 3com Etherlink III cards,  and am
 RJT> in the middle of trying to figure out all of the stuff I
 RJT> need to get a couple of machines networked.  It's real
 RJT> confusing,  the array of choices I get presented with at
 RJT> many places along the way...
 RJT> The software that came with the cards talks about
 RJT> installing: 
 RJT>    - a Netware ODI client
 RJT>    - Novell Netware drivers
 RJT>    - NDIS driver
 RJT>    - Packet driver
The drivers disk is intended to support a wide variety of networking systems.
 RJT> The choices that come up under WFWG 3.11 on the machine in
 RJT> the other room are rather bewildering,  too (I don't have
 RJT> them handy at the moment),  and there's no real indication
 RJT> of what I need in any case.
Windows for Workgroups would want the DOS NDIS drivers.
 RJT> This machine is going to be running Warp 3 Connect very
 RJT> shortly here.  I'm not clear on which of the networking
 RJT> options that come with that package I need to install.
None of them, most likely.  OS/2 Warp 3 Connect should come with 3Com 
drivers. When you run the PRODINST utility to install networking, this should 
be handled for you automatically.  You can also use the drivers disk to 
update the OS/2 NDOS drivers, however.
 RJT> Then there's the further complications of possibly hooking
 RJT> up my old 286 as a test fixture,  for which I only have the
 RJT> networking stuff that came with OpenDOS -- that's basically
 RJT> "Personal Netware",  isn't it?
Yes, and Personal NetWare will want the DOS ODI drivers.
 RJT> And at some point I intend to bring up Linux here and tie that 
 RJT> in with the rest of it... 
Linux will need to have kernel support for your card compiled in or available 
as a module.
 RJT> Hardware-  These 3com cards are the ones that have _only_
 RJT> the RJ45 connector, and though I would have preferred to go
 RJT> with coax to avoid the need for a hub, they weren't
 RJT> something I was going to pass up.  So yeah,  I could have
 RJT> gotten myself a crossover cable for the initial two-machine
 RJT> hookup,  but figured instead that I'd get a hold of a hub. 
 RJT> Found this box that calls itself a "Novell (Microdyne) 5318
 RJT> Concentrator".  Is that a hub,  or what?  It's got 16 ports
 RJT> on it,  plus a coax port,  plus an AUI connector.
Yes, an "Ethernet concentrator" is the correct term for what is commonly 
called a "hub."  Technically, it's not a hub because it does not do store and 
forward, but everyone calls it that anyway.
 
-- Mike
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