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- LANtastic Network Operating System v4.00 Compatibility Testing Report
-
- Product Reviewed: EXAC v1.42 by ACM! Multipurpose Software
- Classification: LAN Remote Control
- Date: September 30, 1991
- Engineer: J Gerring
- _______________________________________________________________________________
-
- Compatibility Statement:
- EXAC version 1.42 is compatible with LANtastic NOS version 4.00.
-
- Product Overview:
- EXAC (for EXternal ACcess) provides remote control and screen broadcasting
- capabilities within a NetBIOS or NetWare network environment. Viewing,
- controlling, and broadcasting functions are supported for video types up to and
- including VGA. EXAC's RAM overhead is low, 8 to 12K on a slave workstation
- (the controlled PC) and 18K on a master (the controlling PC). EXAC includes a
- unique feature which allows a master station to control and broadcast any slave
- screen to all other slaves or a selective group of slaves on the LAN.
- Additional RAM overhead is required when a slave is operating in broadcast mode
- for storage of its current screen, but this buffer may be located on disk or in
- conventional, extended/XMS or expanded memory. VGA Graphics transfers are
- extremely fast. Remote keyboard or mouse control of Microsoft Windows 3.0 in
- 386 Enhanced or Standard modes is not currently supported, although a slave
- running Windows in either of these modes may still be viewed by the "master"
- program. Keyboard control of a slave running Windows in Real mode is
- possible. In addition, a master may run Windows in any mode and broadcast its
- own screen across the LAN for teaching/demonstration purposes. Overall,
- EXAC is a full-featured, high performance LAN remote control utility.
-
- Test Equipment Configuration:
- The following machines were used for EXAC testing. All machines have VGA
- adapters installed and use Artisoft AE-2 NICs. Testing was completed using
- LANtastic NOS v4.0 with AILANBIO.EXE and AE2.EXE v2.03. Machines running
- as LANtastic peer servers are designated by (S).
-
- - CompuAdd 333: 386DX/33, DOS 5.0 (S)
- - Altima 2: 286/16 portable, LCD VGA, DOS 4.01
- - CompuAdd 316s: 386SX/16, DOS 5.0 (S)
- - Northgate 386: 386DX/20, DOS 5.0 (S)
- - CompuAdd 316: 386DX/16, DOS 5.0
- - CompuAdd 220: 286/20, DOS 5.0
-
- Product Installation Notes:
- EXAC does not include an installation program, but all that is required is to
- copy a few files from the diskette to the computer's hard disk. During these
- tests, the software was installed on the CompuAdd 333 and all other stations
- loaded EXAC from this server. One obstacle is that the user must contact the
- distributor, 3rd Planet Software, for an "unlock code" which will allow the
- software to run correctly. Without this code, the software runs for only a
- five minute demonstration period. Users will need to plan this extra time into
- their installation process, and international customers may find it very
- inconvenient.
-
- Product Execution Notes:
- Configuration of EXAC is accomplished when the program is invoked, via either
- a simple menu system or by command line switches. The command line
- configuration was the preferred method used during these tests, as it offers
- more flexibility in specifying options when the program files are stored on a
- main server. On the master station, EXAC was brought up with the following
- command line:
-
- EXAC Main333 /M+ /S+ /B+ /R+
-
- which configures this station as both a slave and a master with broadcast
- capability and installs the master program as a TSR (a requirement for the self-
- broadcasting feature) using the name Main333. On the workstations, a batch file
- similar to the following was used:
-
- net login 333 user
- net use d: \\333\c-drive
- set path %path%;d:\EXAC
- EXAC ws1 /S+ /B+
-
- installing EXAC as a slave with broadcast reception capability. Once all
- workstations are configured this way, the master may control any one of them
- individually, control a slave and broadcast its screen to any or all other
- workstations, or broadcast its own screen to any or all slaves. Selection of
- each mode is accomplished by popping up the EXAC master program via a
- configurable hot key (default is ctrl-alt-M), choosing the slave's name from a
- list, and taking control of it by pressing the enter key. To broadcast that
- slave's screen to all other workstations, the user follows the same process, but
- presses ctrl-enter once the desired slave is selected.
-
- Compatibility Notes:
- Broadcasting of a monochrome based slave to VGA stations (from either a
- monochrome or VGA based master) is not supported. Remote control and
- broadcasting of a VGA slave's screen in text mode from a monochrome based
- master works, but a VGA master cannot view a monochrome slave. The
- manufacturer is aware of these problems and will be addressing them in a future
- release.
-
- Vendor Information:
- 3rd Planet Software, 9819 National Blvd, Suite #2, Los Angeles, CA 90034
- 213/841-2260 (voice), 213/841-2265 (fax), 213/841-0176 (BBS)
-
-
- ARTISOFT, Inc. makes no warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of this
- document. LANtastic is a trademark of ARTISOFT, Inc. Brand names and product
- names are trademarks of their respective companies.
-