D'oh! Backup issue solved - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

3 Sep 2000

From: Richard Erlacher &lt;richard(a)idcomm.com&gt;

...
 There's one gotcha with the SAMBA (SMB) approach to
this problem and that's
...
 in connection with the DOS backups I also have to do. 
My serious work, PCB
...
 layout, schematic capture, digital simulation, etc, is
done largely in a
10-year-old DOS-based package.  Reasons aside, what this means is that I
still have to consider memory requirements for those applications.  The SMB
...
 driver package(s) I've looked at have too large a
memory requirement to fit,
...
 together with rather voluminous SCSI driver
requirements imposed by my need
...
 for interchangeable media used together with the
software I need.  This
means that I either use SAMBA or I get the work done, and not both. 

Ok then the dos/networking  is a problem on the dos side not the server
side
where SAMBA runs. RIght?  Yes running dos is painful as it lives in the
640k world wher things have to fit.

...
 Of course, I could compromise, in that I could run the
software under WIN9x,
...
 but that limits the display resolution I can use, since
Win9x forces me to
...
 use an 800x600 resolution.  I really prefer to be able
to see the nearly 1:1
...
 representation of a B-size (11x17") drawing on the
CRT and still be able to
...
 read the lettering. 

Well getting win9x to run at 640x480 or any other resolution is not a big
deal if the video card and tube can, W9x really doesnt care.

...
 Moreover, the Windows drivers for my HP 9585B plotter
don't work properly,
...
 while the ones internal to the drafting package have
always worked just
fine.  I have several packages under DOS that work properly, and not one
under Windows, since the authors of the drivers apparently thought the
$13,000 "E" size plotters work just like the $175 "A" size ones, which
is
...
 not the case. 

Get a new or different driver, we use one at work and it's larger D sized
brother
and it's not an issue under win9x.

...
 Part of the backup problem is because of the long file
names, since the
DOS-based package that backs up and restores with complete reliability
doesn't like long file names, and the software that understands the long
file names doesn't understand backup. 

Well using dos to do back up is not a best config.  In the world of long
file
names dos is severly crippled.  Rather than dos I'd use *nix or NT4
workstation
as either is more robust than dos.  Dos while fairly bug free has no
protections
and relies on sane debugged apps to be robust.  FYI: NT4 workstation runs
better
than w95 on my stuff even the 486dx/66 box.

...
 Yes, the LINUX is an option, but I'll not use it
until there's
synchronization between the documentation and the software in current usage.
...
 That seems millenia away, however. 

How about FreeBSD?

Allison