TDOSPC.WS4
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- "TurboDOS -- The Ultimate PC Network"
Mike Busch
"The $R/O READ ONLY", December 1985
(The monthly news magazine of the Tampa Bay Kaypro User's Group
and the DataCOM Super Systems.)
(Retyped by Emmanuel ROCHE.)
TurboDOS/PC is a software product that interfaces MS-DOS machines with a
TurboDOS network. It runs on the IBM Personal Computer, PC-compatibles, or any
8086-family microcomputer that uses MS-DOS or PC-DOS version 1.x, 2.x, or 3.0.
TurboDOS/PC allows the PC to become a TurboDOS network client, and to access
the disk drives and printers belonging to the TurboDOS file and print servers
in the network.
Each PC continues to operate normally under control of its native MS-DOS
operating system with full access to its local disks and other peripheral
devices. The only effect of the TurboDOS/PC network connection is that the PC
has access to more disk drives and printers than before.
For disk operations, drive letters beyond the highest local drive refer to
remote drives accessed via the network. Remote disks may be used exactly like
local ones. All the usual file- and directory-oriented commands of MS-DOS
(like COPY, DEL, REN, DIR, CHDIR, MKDIR, and RMDIR) work on remote and local
drives alike. The sub-directory features of MS-DOS (versions 2.00 and later)
are fully supported on remote drives. MS-DOS application programs, overlays
and data files may be copied to and executed from remote disks, except for
packages that use copy-protection schemes to prevent this. Remote files may be
accessed by several TurboDOS and PC users simultaneously, subject to the usual
TurboDOS file-locking rules.
TurboDOS/PC allows print output to be routed either to the PC's local printer
or to remote printers accessed via the network. All of the advanced print
routing, spooling, and print job control features of TurboDOS are fully
supported by TurboDOS/PC. Automatic print spooling allows many users to share
one printer without interfering with one another.
In addition to fully supporting the MS-DOS environment, TurboDOS/PC also
includes a special program interface that gives applications direct access to
the native file- and print-oriented functions of TurboDOS.
TurboDOS/PC works with any of the PC-compatible accessory boards that provide
a high-speed network port (ARCnet, Ethernet, RS422/SDLC, etc.). The package is
furnished as several MS-DOS "COM" files that may be executed from a local
disk. Alternatively, MS-DOS and TurboDOS/PC may be downloaded over the
network, using a bootstrap module provided with the TurboDOS/PC package.
Finally, every good software package deserves equally good documentation. The
82-page TurboDOS/PC manual is both tutorial and comprehensive, including
separate sections intended for users, programmers, and implementors.
"If TurboDOS is so good, why haven't I heard of it before?"
Perhaps it's because we have never run an advertisement for TurboDOS since its
original introduction in early 1981. Not one. We've steadfastly devoted our
resources to enhancing and supporting TurboDOS, not selling it. That's why you
might not have heard much about it... or us... unless it was by word of mouth.
Despite our best efforts to maintain a low profile, however, the market
acceptance of TurboDOS has been nothing short of spectacular. Recent figures
indicate that some fifty thousand TurboDOS networks have been installed during
the past four years. At end-user prices, that's $25 million worth of TurboDOS
software and roughly half a billion dollars worth of hardware. We believe that
this makes TurboDOS the most widely used local-area network (LAN) software in
the world. (We always get a chuckle from the television ads that explain how
much LAN experience "Team Xerox" has with more than 1,000 networks
installed...)
Take a look at some of the computer manufacturers who have chosen TurboDOS as
their network operating system. N.V. Philips of the Netherlands, Europe's
largest electronics company, designed their entire P-3000 family of office
automation microcomputers around TurboDOS. Honeywell, the leading supplier of
heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment in the U.S., and a
major computer company as well, picked TurboDOS to automate their nation-wide
network of HVAC dealers. NCR Corporation, a major computer manufacturer, chose
TurboDOS for the file-server in their Decision-Net LAN system. Sweda
International, a division of Litton Industries and a leader in point-of-sale
automation, is using TurboDOS in their latest system designed for the fast
food industry.
Equally impressive is the roster of users on five continents who have made a
major commitment to TurboDOS by installing multiple systems. The United States
Army, Navy, and Air Force are major users of TurboDOS, as are the armed forces
of Britain, Australia, and Canada. In Great Britain, British Telecom
(Britain's equivalent of AT&T) and Plessey (the British electronics giant)
each have dozens of TurboDOS installations, while Scotland Yard uses TurboDOS
systems to solve crimes. In the aerospace field, there's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL alone has nearly 100 TurboDOS systems), NASA's Kennedy Space
Center, and the Lockheed Missile & Space Division. In banking, TurboDOS
networks are used by Bank of America, Guarantee Financial, Lloyd's Bank
International, and several major European banks. In the academic world, UCLA
and USC have very large TurboDOS-based networks, with smaller installations at
Harvard and the Universities of Alabama, Iowa, Nevada, Texas, and Washington.
Some industrial concerns using multiple TurboDOS installations include Upjohn
(drug manufacturer), CCH Computax (largest U.S. tax-preparation bureau), Bally
(slot machines), National Can (containers), Coca Cola (beverages), and...
believe it or not... Xerox!
EOF
