A Mini-FAQ About OS/2 and "Windows Networking"

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            A Mini-FAQ About OS/2 and "Windows Networking"
                  (c) 1994 by Albert Crosby

Last Revised: 12/21/94
Newsgroups:comp.os.os2.networking.misc,comp.os.os2.networking.tcpip,
   comp.os.os2.setup

[All information in this posting is at your own risk.  While every effort is
made to be accurate, please don't blame me if things don't work or are
simply wrong.  Do point out mistakes so others won't be stung by them!  All
trademarked terms are held by their respective owners.  Any prices quoted
are approximate, and should be verified with the appropriate vendor.]

Q) What is "Windows Networking"?

      Windows networking is what Microsoft is trying to rename SMB-Based
      Networking.  Because more people will recognize that term, I'm using
      "Windows Networking" in the title.

      Lan Manager and Lan Server are the two predominant members of a
      closely related family of network operating systems and products often
      referred to as either the "Lan Manager family" or "SMB-based
      networking".  SMB stands for "Server Message Blocks".  In this FAQ,
      for the purposes of product neutrality, I'll be using the term
      "SMB-based networking" to refer to this family of offerings.
      
      The original SMB-based network operating system that I am aware of was 
      3Com 3+Open.  Others include: MS Lan Manager, IBM Lan Server, Windows
      NT Advanced Server, Windows for Workgroups, DEC Pathworks, LM/UX,
      AS/UX, Lan Server/400, Syntax, and Samba.  I believe MS-Net and the
      IBM PC Lan Program are also members of this family.
      
Q)  Whoa!  That's a lot of products from a lot of vendors.  Can they all 
      work together?
      
      In short, yes.  You can take clients and servers from any of the above
      and mix and match.  The limitations are licensing, and protocols. 
      SMB-based networks use a variety of protocols, but the most popular
      are NetBEUI/NetBIOS, NetBIOS over TCP/IP (often called RFC/Netbios or
      even just TCP/IP), and DECnet.  Almost all SMB implementations 

Q) Can OS/2 connect to Windows NT, Windows for Workgroups, etc?

      Yes.  You can use either the free MS Client or the more expensive,
      but better performing, IBM Lan Requester.  Currently, the only way
      to get the IBM Lan Requester is by purchasing IBM Lan Server and 
      additional licenses.  This may change in the near future, and IBM Lan
      Requester will be included in OS/2 Warp LAN Client.

      Remember, if you are connecting _anything_ to an NT 3.5 server,
      you need a $39.95 license from Microsoft to do it.  This includes
      Windows for Workgroups, NT Workstation, MS Client for DOS or OS/2,
      and the IBM Lan Requester.

      FYI, IBM does not require you to pay them a fee if you choose to use
      the MS Client software to connect to a Lan Server server.  This is yet
      another of the attractions of Lan Server over NT!

Q) Can I use the MS Client to connect to IBM Lan Server servers?

      Yes.  And if you choose to do this, you don't have to pay IBM for a
      client license.  This makes the IBM Lan Server Entry at under $600
      the most cost effective server available.  Period.

      For comparison, a 100 client network with 2 NT 3.5 Servers using the
      MS Client on DOS and OS/2 stations would cost $995*2+$39.95*100, for a
      total of $5,985.  If you chose to use IBM LAN Server with the MS
      Client on requesters, you could spend as little as $525 (LS 4.0 Entry
      from Indelible Blue Inc)*2 for a total of $1050.  Quite a difference.

      However, the IBM Lan Requester is much faster than the MS Client, and
      has a number of valuable features not present in the MS Client. 
      Additional licenses for the IBM Lan Requester list for $50, and are
      available for $42 from Indelible Blue.  The new IBM VALU program may
      be able to get the client licenses for even less!

Q) Can I share my files/printers/etc with other WfWg, NT, Lan Manager, and
   other Lan Server clients?

      The answer is mixed.

      The IBM Lan Requester client has a limited peer functionality. 
      Essentially, it's one resource to one user at a time.

      The MS Client *used* to have this functionality, until Microsoft
      announced NT.  The LAN Manager client for OS/2 mysteriously lost this
      functionality at that time.

      IBM is reportedly working on a full peer to peer product.  It may or
      may not ship with the OS/2 Warp LAN Client.  The peer to peer product,
      if it is released, will interact with IBM Lan Requester, NT, WfWg, MS
      Client, Lan Manager, and other SMB-based networks.

      Of course, you can always install IBM Lan Server on your machine.  Lan
      Server does not require a dedicated machine, and you can continue to 
      run OS/2, DOS, and Windows applications on your machine.  The entry
      version of Lan Server 4.0 is available in the US for close to $500.  A
      bargain for a real network operating system.

      If you are interested in a peer-to-peer solution immeadiately, you may
      want to investigate Lantastic for OS/2.  It is also able to connect to
      Lan Manager, Lan Server, NT, and WfWg machines.

Q) How do I install the MS Client for OS/2?

      WARNING: The instructions Microsoft provides will not work for 
      OS/2 version 2.11 and later.  These instructions should be used for
      all releases of OS/2 2.0 and later.

      All of the files needed for this process, except OS/2 itself, may
      be obtained from ftp.microsoft.com, /BusSys/MSClient/OS2/* and
      /BusSys/LanMan/sup-ed/fixes/*

      If you are using the MSClient diskettes that came with NT 3.5 Server,
      you should try following steps 0-4 and then follow the instructions
      for installing that version of the MS Client.  Since MS hasn't
      released this to the general public (yet?), I haven't been able to
      test this.

      (0) If you've tried installing the MS-Client already, and failed,
          remove the aborted installation completely before proceeding.

      (1) At an OS/2 prompt, issue the command:
 
      attrib -r -s -h os2ver

      (2) Using an editor, add the following lines to OS2VER

      20=setup.exe
      20=netwksta.sys
      20=netvdd.sys

      (3) At an OS/2 prompt, issue the command:

      attrib +r +s +h os2ver

      (4) Shutdown and reboot. 

      (5) Insert the MS Client for OS/2 disk in drive A and invoke 
          SETUP.EXE.  Follow all instructions *UNTIL* the "Shutdown
          and restart your system" message. 

      [Do NOT install the MSTCP protocol if you plan to use IBM or FTP 
      Corp's TCPIP for OS/2 offerings.  The MSTCP protocol is used solely 
      for transporting NetBIOS across TCPIP - there are no truly useable 
      tools such as telnet or ftp for this protocol stack.]

      (6) Without shutting down or rebooting, insert the Lan Manager 2.2B 
          OS/2 Patch Diskette 1 in drive A and invoke SETUP.EXE.

      (7) Before shutting down and rebooting, use an editor to examine, 
          and if necessary, correct the LANMAN\PROTOCOL.INI file.

      (8) Shutdown and reboot.

Q) Can I use the MS Client with IBM's TCP/IP for OS/2?

      Definitely.

      DO NOT USE THE MSTCP PROTOCOL WITH THE MS CLIENT IF YOU PLAN TO USE
      IBM'S TCP/IP FOR OS/2.  EVEN MICROSOFT WILL ADMIT THAT MSTCP IS 
      *ONLY* FOR NETBIOS OVER TCP/IP.  There is an IBM product that you can 
      use to add netbios over TCP/IP functionality.

      The real trick and question come about when you decide whether you are
      going to use LAPS to support your network adapter, or use Microsoft's
      NDIS management.  I've been using Microsoft's, but you can load the MS
      Client on top of LAPS if you prefer.  (I have not yet done this.)

      To do this, I've used the following steps:

      * Install TCP/IP & LAPS on one machine.  Get it working.  Make sure
        that you have a copy of INET.SYS and IFNDIS.SYS in \TCPIP\BIN.  Then
        remove the IBMLAN, IBMCOM, and MUGLIB directories, and all
        references to them in the CONFIG.SYS.  Comment out the run
        statements for TCP/IP.

      * Install the MS Client for OS/2.  Get it working.

      * Add the lines to various files needed to get TCP/IP working with the
        MS Client.  These are:

	Add to LANMAN\PROTOCOL.INI
		[TCPIP_XIF]
		   DriverName = TCPIP$
		   Bindings = "your_nic_binding_string_here"
	Add to CONFIG.SYS, following your NDIS driver in the LANMAN section:
		DEVICE=x:\TCPIP\BIN\INET.SYS
		DEVICE=x:\TCPIP\BIN\IFNDIS.SYS
	Uncomment the run statements for TCP/IP in CONFIG.SYS

      At this point, everything should work fine.

Q) What if I need to have NetBIOS over TCP/IP with my system?

      It's doable.

      You need NetBIOS over TCP/IP (often called RFC/NetBIOS) if and only 
      if you need to access a server that is located across an IP based 
      router.

      The MS Client does come with a TCP/IP stack called MSTCP. 
      Unfortunately, there are no TCP/IP apps available for it.  (To be
      completely fair, MS did make some.  But even MS reps will tell you
      that they are worthless.)

      IBM has a product called the NetBIOS kit for TCP/IP.  I have
      succesfully used it with the MS Client.

      Install the NetBIOS kit for TCP/IP from IBM on a system that already
      has a working MS Client and IBM TCP/IP for OS/2 combination.  
      
      There are some differences in the installation of the kit since you
      are using the MS Client instead of Lan Requester.  First, you don't
      need to comment out a netbios.sys line in CONFIG.SYS.  And you *DO*
      need to put this line in \LANMAN\IBMLAN.INI:

	net2 = netbios$,0,nb30,32,50,14

      and make sure that the wrknet=net1 line is changed to wrknet=net1,
      net2 (and srvnet if you are running the server).

      Note: The only protocol you will need to install in the Lan Manager
      Setup screen is the NetBEUI protocol.
		
Q) How about the MSIPX protocol to connect to NT servers running it?

      According to Microsoft, the MSIPX protocol is not currently supported 
      by the MS Client for OS/2.  I expect this will change in the future. 
      For now, your NT server will need to be using the NetBEUI and/or
      NetBIOS over TCP/IP (MSTCP) protocols.