Riding the coattails of the Internet, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) has taken off as the dominant communications protocol for open systems. End-users are finding it more and more convenient to connect the diverse parts of multivendor environments using TCP/IP while shunning proprietary protocols. [For a brief case study in how the Toronto Stock Exchange employs TCP/IP, see the personality profile on page 4.]
The eight-session UniForum '95 track "Implementing TCP/IP" is designed to provide end users with the information they need to choose, implement, and optimize the protocol on a variety of platforms from PCs to mainframes.
One area where TCP/IP fits most logically is in remote and wireless connections to local area networks-a subject to be covered by the session "Mobile LAN Connectivity." The mobile connectivity market is estimated at $200 million to $1 billion a year.
"It will be a loose and fun-filled afternoon," says session chair James Gaskin, a writer and consultant in the Dallas area. "Because I am not a product vendor, I have no qualms about telling people the truth as I see it, because it's not going to help my sales. So I'm going to give the panelists a hard time and we're not going to pull any punches."
Gaskin's panelists are Brian Meek, training and marketing manager for Novell, Inc., and Larry Goldstein, product manager for remote access products with 3Com Corp. Gaskin will introduce some of the options for mobile connectivity, discuss the differences between wireless remote access and roaming wireless, and review problems that users have with support in remote locations, as well as the problems that travelers create for network support people in their organizations. He'll review what options are realistically feasible today with wireless, infrared, and cellular packet data connections.
Meek plans to cover the software required for the mobile work place, as well as topics like point-to-point protocol (PPP) support, passive NetWare LANs, and the general state of dial-in software solutions. Goldstein will focus on the available dial-up hardware. "The majority of our session will be spent on the needs of traveling users with dial-up capabilities through a portable computer-users that need access through either UNIX hosts or NetWare/PC LANs," Gaskin says. "We'll spend some time talking about the ones who are anchored to a home office or a small office."
Blake will lead a panel consisting of James Mancini, systems sales engineer with Cisco Newport; and Steve Miller, director of professional services and security for UUNet Technologies, Inc. Miller will explain TCP/IP and how the protocol has grown in popularity, and what makes it desirable, also covering current trends. Mancini will discuss the role of routers in TCP/IP WANs, including the principles of WAN connectivity. Miller will discuss what it's like to manage what Wood calls "a staggeringly large TCP/IP WAN." UUNet, Miller's company, is one of the country's largest Internet access providers, managing one of the few backbones in the United States based on asynchronous transfer mode. He'll cover some of the methods and pitfalls of building a large TCP/IP environment, including services that UUNet provides for other companies.
Other sessions in the TCP/IP track include: