Windows client for AFS (and VMS)

[Peter Lister, Cranfield Computer Centre]

This is a well worn enquiry, but it's some time since I've seen an answer on 
info-afs. It maybe that there's been some development recently, you never know.

We're considering our options for PC file support. We currently have 450 PCs, 
served from VMS by DEC Pathworks 4 over DECnet. We have an AFS cell with ~90 
workstations, but PC/VMS user can't see the AFS files and vice versa. 
Pathworks 5/IP will apparently be just too expensive (don't ask me, I don't 
deal in money, just technical details, anyway, I'm the Unix guy).

So, what we want is IP file serving for the PCs, hopefully one which will 
permit PCs to see AFS and VMS files. It seems to me we have the following 
options.

a) A Windows AFS client. Looking back in the info-afs archive throws up PC 
Venus from umich.edu. Is this available, umich guys? Or we can wait for 
Windows OSF/DFS client (but I'd like to get this working before I die).

b) AFS/NFS translator and e.g. PC-NFS. I hear nothing good about the 
translator from info-afs, and also we don't have Sun hardware of a sufficient 
power to do this (as I gather that the translator worked least badly on Suns), 
and buying hardware is not currently an option. A plus point, though, is that 
we could export AFS to e.g. VMS (with Multinet), and non-AFS Unix systems.

c) A non-NFS file protocol which treats files as files, and doesn't attempt 
fancy stuff, a bit like Pathwork's LAST. As a basis, one could imagine using 
good old FTP, with added Kerberos gumph to do token passing. It occurs to me 
that maybe someone has glued FTP to the back end of a DOS file system. Also, I 
seem to remember someone from Locus mentioning that they had something which 
works with AFS. Downside - inneffcient; upside - completely under our control.

If any site which servers AFS to PCs in any way would like to comment direct, 
I'd be very grateful. I'll post a summary.

Peter Lister                             Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Computer Centre, Cranfield University    Voice: +44 234 754200 ext 2828
Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL UK        Fax: +44 234 750875
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