Mark Davies
Just to clarify here: The 5 VUW boxes were for Victoria's internal network and predated Kawaihiko's use of ciscos.
Right. In order: - The box pictured at http://www.knossos.net.nz/don/wn1.html is one of three AGS and two MGS delivered to VUW in early '89 (the order being for 5xMGS) for the VUW internal network, and later carried Kawaihiko leased line connections. - The PACCOM link (from Waikato to U of Hawaii) went in in late '89, with a Proteon router on the end. - Kawaihiko links went in in '90. Waikato was something of a hub for Kawaihiko, and had an MGS to service those links. I think that's the MGS mentioned by Arron upthread. I don't think the MGS ever serviced the international link -- I've got email in my archives from John Houlker from 27 Apr 1993 stating that the Proteon on the international link (by then 128k via satellite to FIX-WEST at NASA Ames) was replaced by a cisco 3000. - According to a network map posted in the same message, Waikato had two AGS+s doing internal network duties. All the bits in Lindsay's pictures are of an AGS+ (or parts thereof) with an MEC6 6-port Cbus Ethernet card in it. VUW had a couple of those doing internal campus network duties by the mid 90s too. - By that time, Kawaihiko had been largely subsumed into Tuianet (using frame relay), with just the South Island universities still on the old leased lines.
Are you saying our PC based 4.8K/9.6K links via the DSIR's terminal network were experimental or not solid or are you refering to the earlier attempts to do something with DECnet. :-)
Well, I wasn't there, but my understanding of PC-router SLIP comms over async ports on the DSIR network was that it was, uh, not exactly industrial grade. That's not the same as "didn't work". -- don