New products, new protocol. (WRQ's Reflection Suite for TCP 6.5 and FTP Software's OnNet 32 2.0 TCP/IP suites) (two of eight TCP/IP suite evaluations in 'TCP/IP bulks up') (Software Review)(Evaluation)
Attachmate Corporation is a 1982-founded software company which focuses on secure terminal emulation, legacy integration, and managed file transfer software. Citrix-compatibility 1 and Attachment Reflection 2 3 are enhanced/added offerings. If you are evaluating Reflection: Browse to and double-click Evaluate.exe on the Reflection Evaluator CD. To evaluate Reflection X, click PC X-Server Software. To evaluate Reflection for HP, Reflection for UNIX and OpenVMS, Reflection for IBM, or Reflection for ReGIS.
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Abstract:
WRQ's Reflection Suite for TCP 6.5 and FTP Software's OnNet 32 2.0 TCP/IP suites both offer TCP/IP stacks that are designed to replace the stacks native to the Microsoft Windows 95/NT operating systems. Reflection Suite is well-organized and integrates with Windows 95's environment. The package ships with a variety of utilities, including a network statistics monitor, NFS administrator, ping, telnet, a Web server, emulators and a serial-connection manager. OnNet 32 2.0 is one of the most favored suites reviewed, offering a solid assortment of utilities and a user-friendly NFS client. The product's stack supports IPv6 and WinSock 2.0. It also offers IPsec, which allows for secure private networks. The package has a multithreaded 32-bit architecture and tunable parameters. Features include a data archiver, news and e-mail clients, a Web server, a phone dialer and emulators.
Full Text:
Upcoming suites promise new features, better integration
TCP/IP vendors aren't giving ground to Microsoft Corp. without a fight, and several packages were undergoing major updates when we performed our tests. WRQ Inc. and FTP Software Inc. are putting the final touches on their new suites, and both contain TCP/IP stacks intended to replace the native Microsoft stack. Had we been scoring them, both would have been among our top finishers. The FTP Software suite is of particular interest because of its IP version 6, IPsec, and Microsoft WinSock 2.0 functions, as well as its smooth integration with the Microsoft Windows 95 environment.
Reflection Suite
WRQ's Reflection Suite for TCP 6.5 is a well-organized package that integrates with the Windows 95 environment. We found its Network File System (NFS) client one of the easiest to use because it can automatically find available NFS resources.
The stack installs new dial-up features, which don't work with the Microsoft stack and dial-up adapter. Its setup is totally different from that of Microsoft, and you must add a Reflection Suite serial adapter through the Control Panel Network icon.
Overall, dial-up networking with Reflection just wasn't as easy to use as the native Microsoft tools, mostly by design. In addition, the Serial Connection Manager doesn't check to see if you have a modem installed before configuring PPP connections as Microsoft's does, nor can it automatically detect and set up your modem. And it does not use the Windows 95 modem settings: You have to configure the WRQ stack modem settings separately. With the WRQ stack installed, the Microsoft command-line ping no longer works.
WRQ provides an NFS client that installs through the Control Panel and has a link to global NFS settings. Once the client is added, it automatically adds an NFS Servers group to the Network Neighborhood and scans for available NFS servers.
The client provides an NFS administration program--a nice touch. This program lets you select a host and then query the host for available NFS daemons, directories, and printers. We found this feature very helpful for trouble shooting NFS resource problems.
The package contains a full set of utilities, including an event viewer similar to that in Windows NT, a network statistics monitor, trace route, NFS administrator, and a serial-connection manager. Also included are an ftp (File Transfer Protocol) client and server, finger client and server, ping, telnet, emulators, a World Wide Web server and client, SNMP agent, and a server manager utility. Reflection also easily integrates NFS servers with Microsoft Windows 95 Explorer and Network Neighborhood, automatically finding and displaying available NFS resources.
The Server manager provides complete control over optional system services that include finger, ftp, tftp (Trivial ftp), Web servers, Line Printer Daemon printer and identification daemons, and a couple of optional TCP services. Double-clicking any item takes you to the Properties menu for that item, which provides easy configuration of users, access policies, welcome messages, directory mappings, and other pertinent parameters.
The ftp client has a drag-and-drop interface that integrates with the Explorer interface, allowing files to be dragged from the Explorer to the ftp icon. A preview mode lets you see the first 32KB of files encountered on ftp sites, which prevents the downloading of unnecessary files. The telnet utility features scripting and multiple host profiles. We turned on the Web and ftp servers, and both worked immediately. The ftp server allows anonymous and guest accounts, as well as settable permissions (per account) for get, put, and so on.
OnNet 32
FTP Software's OnNet 32 2.0 is one of the best packages we looked at, even as a beta product. It has a good set of tools and an easy-to-use, functional NFS client.
Its stack also improves on Microsoft's.
Wrq Reflection Software Login
The stack in OnNet 32 is the first to include support for IP version 6 (IPv6) and WinSock (Windows Socket) 2.0, which is backward-compatible with all WinSock 1.1 applications. It also provides IPsec for secure private networks between two computers (or a computer and a firewall) that support IPsec. It has a fully multithreaded 32-bit architecture, and it has some tuneable parameters, including broadcast format, packet buffers, and multicast. It's the only stack we've seen so far that offers tuning, although we didn't test it to see how it worked. Its monitoring tools also assist with tuning.
The stack works fine as an IPv4 stack, and we were able to reach all the other hosts on the network. We didn't test the stack's IPv6 features and functions. The stack is fully multihomed and supports up to 16 simultaneous LAN or serial connections hosting up to 128 virtual sessions. It provides centralized management through Microsoft's Systems Management Server, as well as through an SNMP agent.
The stack has some enhancements to process Mobile IP packets, although you must obtain the protocol components elsewhere. It is installed and configured in the same way as the Microsoft stack, and its Properties tab is also similar. The stack installs some new dial-up features but uses the native Windows 95 modem settings and utilities to configure dial-up networking. Choices are available for ISDN, cellular, and standard modem connections. We found dial-up fairly easy to set up and use, and it dialed and connected to our ISP (Internet service provider) after running the wizard. The stack is also supplied with an API with full documentation and examples.
OnNet 32 includes FTP Software's Interdrive 95 NFS client, which is also sold separately. You install it through the Control Panel. It doesn't autodetect NFS resources, but it is easy to add servers to the NFS servers group by right clicking the icon and accessing its Properties tab. Each NFS mount is individually configureable for authentication and login name. The client fully supports and displays long Unix filenames, and fully integrates with the Windows 95 environment, adding right mouse-button links to the NFS Properties, which control authentication and permissions.
The package contains a data archiver, phone dialer, ftp client and server, KEYview document conversion, E-mail and news client, browser, Web server, Line printer/LPD print utilities, and emulators. It is well-integrated with the Windows 95 environment, with all components installing through the Control Panel and having a Properties tab. It easily integrates NFS servers with Explorer and Network Neighborhood, automatically finding and displaying available NFS resources. It includes OLE (ActiveX) automation to link documents and tasks into Windows applications. You can add an icon to Microsoft Excel or Word to launch the ftp client or a telnet session.
The ftp client was the best we tested. It fully integrates with Explorer, and you can browse mapped and unmapped network resources and drag-and-drop transfers. It also integrates with the KEYview document-conversion tool from the right mouse button. The client features a drag-and-drop interface and integrates with the Explorer interface, allowing files to be dragged from Explorer to the ftp icon. A preview mode lets you see the first 32KB of files on ftp sites, preventing the downloading of unnecessary files.
The telnet utility is good, featuring many emulation modes, scripting, and multiple host profiles. We turned on the Web and ftp servers, and both worked immediately. The ftp server allows anonymous and guest accounts, as well as settable permissions (per account) for get, put, and other commands. It functioned both from The Santa Cruz Operation Inc. and from Windows NT systems.
SolarNet PC-NFSPro
Wrq Reflections Software
We were hoping to include the newest offering from SunSoft Inc., which is updating its SolarNet PC-NFSPro 2.0 package, but it was unavailable. The current product is difficult to set up and use and presented us with several compatibility problems on our Windows 95 systems and our LAN. The 2.0 product was one of the first to offer Windows 95 support, along with FTP Software's Interdrive 95. Esker Inc. is also currently updating its TunPLUS package, even though the current offering we tested performed well.
Wrq Reflection Software Pdf
Gale Document Number:A18783582