TcpLink 3000 CS		INAC Computer Innovative Netzwerkanwendungen

Benutzerhandbuch TcpLink 3000 CS in englischer Sprache

Chapter 1

Introduction

The TCPLINK and SPECSTORE units are accessories to your ASPECT computer that expand its capabilities significantly. TCPLINK was designed to connect the ASPECT to an ETHERNET network running the standard TCP/IP communication protocol. The ASPECT is thus prepared for data exchange with modern UNIX computers and workstations that are part of the network.

The purpose of SPECSTORE is to provide a data archiving unit that supports the most modern storage technology, namely magneto optical disks, floptical disk, 1/4 inch tape streamers and DAT tapes. Depending on the chosen storage medium, an archiving capacity of several Gigabytes may be achieved. SPECSTORE is flexible enough that it can be equipped with several of the mentioned devices.

Standardly, TCPLINK is delivered with a 3.5 inch diskette drive where you can archive up to 1.4 Mbytes of data in the convenient DOS format. This allows you to exchange data off-line with PCs.

1.1 TcpLink

TCPLINK provides your ASPECT with the following capabilities:

send files from the ASPECT to host computers connected to the TCP/IP network
fetch files from a host and store it on an ASPECT disk
list the contents of a host directory on the ASPECT display
execute a command on a UNIX host from the ASPECT keyboard
archive data on DOS formatted floppy diskette

If you are already familiar with TCP/IP networking on UNIX machines, you will notice that these features correspond to the TCP/IP client programs ftp send/get and rsh.

The general command syntax for data transfer or archiving as to be entered on the ASPECT keyboard is as follows:

`TCP <destination>:<command char.> <specifications>`

For example, the command line

`TCP SUN:S SPEC.`

would send all files beginning with SPEC to the host computer or the archive the characterics of which are stored in the ADAKOS text file SUN.TCP.

TCPLINK offers the following advantages for the communication of an ASPECT with other computers:

Use of the TCP/IP standard communication protocol employed by all modern UNIX workstations
No proprietary protocol is active on the ETHERNET network, therefore no special software is required for the host computers to communicate with the ASPECT
Reliable file transfer is guaranteed by the TCP/IP protocol
Ease of installation: the TCPLINK unit is plugged into the rear side of the ASPECT without the necessity of opening the ASPECT
TCPLINK is equipped for thin or thick ETHERNET connections.

1.2 SpecStore

SPECSTORE provides your ASPECT with the following capabilities, depending on the chosen options:

archiving files on floppy diskettes in DOS compatible format
archiving files on magneto-optical disks in DOS compatible format
archiving files on 1/4 inch streamer tape cartridges compatible with the UNIX tar format
archiving files on Digital Audio Tape (DAT) cartridges compatible with the UNIX tar format

The usage of the DOS file system format on disk type devices and the tar format on tapes ensures that you can retrieve your data at any time on any PC equipped with the suitable drives, or on UNIX workstations that are able to read DOS format devices. This is true for most of the major products available on the marketplace.

1.3 Command overview

The following table presents all available commands in alphabetical order at one glance. Details can be found in the next chapters.

TCP A<:config> Print/alter default destination parameters

TCP C Configure the network

TCP <destination>:D Display current directory of destination host or archiving medium

TCP F medium Format an archiving medium, e.g. a floppy diskette

TCP <destination>:G files> Get (retrieve) files from the destination host or archiving medium

TCP H Help: print this command option list

TCP N Print serial number, software version, date, and time of TCPLINK or SPECSTORE unit

TCP <destination>:P Test network: check if destination host is responding

TCP <destination>:S files Send files to the destination host or archiving medium

TCP V Print program version and copyright message

TCP W Start program as server for remote data transfer initilization

TCP <destination>:X command Execute a command remotely on the destination host

TCP Y command Execute DOS command

If <destination> is omitted, the default destination is used. This is the floppy disk after program installation. As described later, the user may define his own default destination.