On 5/23/2021 4:49 AM, [email protected] wrote:
I don't believe that any of the early LAN products emulated what IBMers would
call an FEP.
Generally, an FEP is a 37XX computer running NCP, EP or PEP.
I'll easily concede, as a) all of the IBM terminology seemed alien to me
when I joined the company and I was just trying to tread water coming
from the micro/pc/unix world, and b) what good memory I did have on all
of the IBM networking got pushed to the side as new positions and
companies came and went and I didn't use that knowledge.
The early tools generally appeared to the Mainframe as a 3174 Terminal Cluster Controller and attached screen. They did not emulate any of the 37xx or 3174 CPUs, they "just" re-implemented the IBM protocols.
That sounds right.
The tools were not limited to terminal emulation, they would also allow PC
applications to connect to the Mainframe using a range of SNA protocols.
SNA, there's a term I had completely forgotten about.
I will admit, though, the IBM network protocol documentation (I want to
say they were called Red Books, though they were not red) set a high bar
for API and protocol documentation that I have rarely seen elsewhere in
my travels. I do miss that.
I would say they are all old enough and obsolete enough to be considered "in scope" on here.
Dave
--
Jim Brain
[email protected]
www.jbrain.com
