> What's the status of the NETBEUI support in the kernel? The four files under
> linux/net/netbeui have been there a long while but they have no Makefile and
> don't compile when I attempt to do so manually.
>
> As usual, I have a vacation job installing Linux in a previously
> Windows-dominated environment. It'd have been nice to be able to use SMB
> networking without having to install an IP stack on _all_ the Windows boxes.
>
> Was the support abandoned because of the fundamental brokenness of the
> protocol design?
>
>
Please don't use NETBEUI. It encapsulates NETBIOS packets into BROADCAST
packets. This means that every machine on your LAN will receive all data
meant to be sent to a single work-station. It has to read that
Micro$garbage and dump it on the floor. Set up your Micro$tuff to run
tcp/ip or everybody, including the Micro$stuff will suffer. The machines
will all run slow because of the interrupt load and the low-level network
load, even if they are not doing any networking at the time.
I have a simple DOS program that, when run, calibrates itself to read
100% by adjusting a loop-count that uses the BIOS timer to start and
stop it. After the calibration, it asks for the network wire to be
connected.
When the Window$ machines were running NETBEUI, the reading went to
4. This means that 96 percent of the CPU time was wasted dumping
NETBEUI packets. Your mileage may vary, if you have a very fast CPU,
and the network card and driver is exceptional, you may only lose
50% of your CPU horsepower.
I have been trying to get all of Analogic to not use NETBEUI. When
a network backup is occurring between two Micro$garbage machines,
I have to disconnect my network when using Linux on my 166 MHz
Pentium. Otherwise, the machine is severly overloaded and takes
several hundred milliseconds to even echo a character (very visible).
Futher, a kernel compile that normally takes 18-20 minutes takes well
over an hour.
No. No not use that crap.
Cheers,
Dick Johnson
***** FILE SYSTEM MODIFIED *****
Penguin : Linux version 2.1.90 on an i586 machine (66.15 BogoMips).
Warning : It's hard to remain at the trailing edge of technology.
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