Lantronix ETS Reference Manual - 2.5 Lan Manager
LAN Manager
Concepts
2-4
Zones, like nodes, originate from and are configured on AppleTalk routers. One zone on each network will
be chosen by the router as the default zone. If there are no AppleTalk routers on the network, there will be
only one zone (the default zone) of which all nodes are members. If no zone name has been previously
defined on the ETS, or if the defined zone is no longer valid, the ETS will join the default zone and no other
configuration is needed. The ETS can be placed in a different zone with the Define Protocols AppleTalk
command. Each time the ETS is booted, or when its zone is changed, it will verify the zone name with a
router.
2.4.3 Name Binding Protocol (NBP)
NBP is used by AppleTalk to advertise resources, such as printers and fileservers, to the network. Any
resource that other users can access will have NBP information that must be communicated to other nodes.
The items in the Chooser window reflect the NBP resources on the network.
NBP and the Chooser organize resources by three levels: name, type, and zone. Names are arbitrary strings
assigned by users, such as Kathy or MyPrinter. Types are generic classes of resources, such as Macintosh
IIci and LaserWriter. Zones, mentioned previously, are collections of nodes on the network. Typical
Macintosh NBP information might be [Kathy, Macintosh IIci, Accounting] for the name, type, and zone,
respectively. A service offered by the ETS called MyPrinter that has AppleTalk enabled and that is located
in the Engineering zone would have an NBP description of [MyPrinter, LaserWriter, Engineering]. If the
LaserWriter resource in the Engineering zone were selected in the Chooser, one of the resources shown
would be the MyPrinter service offered by the ETS.
The NBP type LaserWriter designates a PostScript printer, so nodes printing to printers of type
LaserWriter assume that the printer supports PostScript. Care must be taken to attach only PostScript
printers to ETS services with AppleTalk enabled, and to disable AppleTalk on services that do not support
PostScript printers. It is not possible to print to non-PostScript printers (for example, ImageWriters and
StyleWriters) from a Macintosh via the ETS.
2.5 LAN Manager
LAN Manager is based on the NetBIOS protocol. It is used by several PC-based operating systems, notably
OS/2, Windows NT, and Windows for Workgroups, although LAN Manager servers have been written for
HP and Sun workstations. The ETS implements only enough of the NetBIOS protocol stack to provide print
services to nodes; no interactive logins are allowed.
The ETS also implements the straightforward and easy to use DLC printer protocol typically used by HP
laser printers. You must select the hardware address of the ETS as the target for the print job. DLC operation
is only supported under Windows NT. DLC does not provide queueing on the ETS, nor does it allow
printing to more than one service on the ETS.
2.5.1 Networking
NetBIOS is not a routable protocol, so the ETS can only communicate with local nodes or nodes that are
accessible via a gateway capable of bridging the NetBIOS data.