BARR/RJE manual

1. Introduction

With BARR/RJE software and optional hardware, your PC emulates an SNA RJE workstation. This chapter describes equipment requirements and lists BARR/RJE package contents.

• 1.1 Equipment Checklist

• 1.2 Package Contents

• 1.3 References

• 1.4 Trademarks

• 1.5 Acknowledgments

1.1 Equipment Checklist

In addition to the items included in the Barr package, you need the equipment described in this section.

PC Requirements

PC hardware and software requirements vary depending on your application, the environment at your site, peak workloads, and other considerations. At a minimum, your PC must have these features:

• 640 kilobytes of memory

• A 386/25-33 or 486 processor

• 2,000 to 5,000 bytes of storage per page of data (you can store 200 to 500 pages of data per megabyte of hard-drive capacity)

• DOS version 3.0 or later

Contact Barr Systems Technical Support if you need more specific recommendations.

Extended Memory – Barr products support extended memory, which you can use to enhance performance.

Barr products do not use the expanded memory feature of memory managers or expanded memory drivers.

Hard Drive – To achieve optimum performance when you use the print spool or perform other disk-intensive tasks, use a hard drive with fast access and fast transfer times. The required hard drive size depends on the storage needs at your site. To determine how much storage is needed, estimate that you need 2,000 to 5,000 bytes of storage per page of data or that you can store 200 to 500 pages of data per megabyte of hard drive capacity.

DOS can only address hard drive partitions of 2 gigabytes (GB) or less. If your hard drive is larger than 2 GB, you need to divide it into partitions. See your DOS manual for instructions.

DOS Operating System – The PC and the host computer each have operating system programs that direct the flow of data and make the PC easier to use. BARR/RJE requires the DOS operating system and is compatible with DOS 3.0 or later versions.

LAN Adapter

If you use an 802.2 LLC host connection, these items are required:

• Local area network (LAN) adapter that transports 802.2 token ring frames over a token ring or ethernet network. See your LAN adapter manual to determine if your adapter meets this requirement.

• LAN support program compatible with your adapter

Barr Systems 802.2 LLC support uses IBM’s LAN Support Program. This program originally used two drivers, DXMA0MOD.SYS and DXMC0MOD.SYS, which you added to the CONFIG.SYS file on each PC. This program supported any token ring card that used the Tropic chipset for network communications, including 3Com, Intel, and Olicom. Now the typical LAN support is through the Network Device Interface Specification (NDIS) interface, which replaces DXMC0MOD.SYS with DXME0MOD.SYS. Any token ring or Ethernet card with an NDIS driver can support the 802.2 LLC protocol. To install the NDIS interface, use the DXMAID install program supplied with the LAN Support Program. You also need a board-specific driver, which is usually included on the board’s driver disk.

The IBM LAN Support Program is not in the public domain and must be purchased from IBM. In some cases, vendors now support running their own version of LAN support. For instance, Madge supplies the SMART interface with their token ring boards. See your vendor for information about the necessary drivers.

A LAN adapter also is required when BARR/RJE connects through BARR GATEWAY on the LAN. BARR/RJE supports the LAN software interfaces 802.2 LLC, NetBIOS, Novell IPX, and TCP/IP for gateway connections.

Modem

For SDLC or X.25 host connections via a modem, you need an external synchronous modem.

For an asynchronous connection to BARR GATEWAY with the Barr ASYNC option, you need an asynchronous modem.

1.2 Package Contents

Your BARR/RJE package includes the following software, hardware, and documentation. If you purchased Barr communications hardware or other hardware and software options, see the corresponding hardware or option manuals for a list of additional items included.

BARR/RJE Software – The BARR/RJE software disk includes program files and reference files. If you purchased additional software options, the BARR/RJE disk includes additional software.

Barr Hardware – For SDLC, X.25, or Coax host connections, a Barr communications adapter and cable are included. For an 802.2 (token ring) host connection, a hardware key is included.

The communications adapter enables your PC to communicate with the mainframe or host computer. The hardware key is a small device for software protection that plugs into a PC parallel port. You can attach a printer cable to the other end of the hardware key.

BARR/RJE Manual – The BARR/RJE manual tells you how to install and operate the PC software.

Host Definition Guide – You get two copies of the Host Definition Guide. One copy is for your use. Give the other copy to the mainframe or host systems programmer. BARR/RJE requires that the host programmer enter specific host parameters at the host computer. The Host Definition Guide helps the host programmer with that task.

Contact Barr Systems Electronically Booklet – The Contact Barr Systems Electronically booklet provides detailed instructions for contacting Barr Systems via Internet e-mail, the Barr web site, and the Barr FTP server.

Common Questions Booklet – This booklet lists 20 common questions about BARR/RJE software and tells you where to find the answers in the BARR/RJE manual.

Other Manuals – If you purchased a communications adapter from Barr Systems, an adapter installation manual is included. If you purchased additional Barr software or hardware options to use with BARR/RJE, corresponding option or hardware manuals are included.

1.3 References

These selected publications provide more information about communications concepts. Refer to the publications that apply to your host system and data communications equipment.

The publication number for each manual corresponds to the version number of mainframe software. The number for your publication might be different, depending on the version of the software at your host.

1.4 Trademarks

Barr Trademarks

The Barr logo is a registered trademark and BARR/3780, BARR/HASP, BARR/RJE, RJE+3270, BARR/TAPE, BARR/TRAN, PRINT370, and SYNC MAX ISA are trademarks of Barr Systems, Inc.

Other Trademarks

IBM is a registered trademark and SNA, PC AT, PS/2, Micro Channel, NetBIOS, NetView, System/360, System/370, Token Ring, VTAM, and AS/400 are trademarks of International Business Machines. DEC, VAX, VMS, LAT, and DECnet are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. Xerox and Ethernet are trademarks of Xerox Corporation. Dataproducts is a trademark of Dataproducts Corporation. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. WordPerfect, Novell, NetWare, and Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) are trademarks of Novell, Inc. UNIX is a trademark of Unix Systems Laboratories. PostScript is a trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. QEMM is a registered trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems. Banyan and Vines are trademarks of Banyan Systems Inc. Cross Connect is a registered trademark of Smith Micro Software, Inc.

All other trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.

1.5 Acknowledgments

Barr Systems thanks the following people for their suggestions for improvements to the BARR/RJE manual.

• Mark Byrd, Hewitt Associates LLC, Lincolnshire, IL

• Maynard Calkin, Northeast Regional Data Center, Gainesville, FL

• Rick Foley, Siemens Nixdorf Printing Systems, Boca Raton, FL

• Dale Fulk, Electronic Data Systems, Indianapolis, IN

• Steve Glick, Dallas County Community College District, Mesquite, TX

• Earl Gulczinski, Northern Telecom, Minnetonka, MN

• Marshall Grimm, EDS GM Proving Ground, Milford, MI

• Rich Kurek, CNA Insurance Companies, Chicago, IL

• Jim Prestwood, Triangle Systems, Inc, Durham, NC

• Joe Ragland, Triangle Universities Computation Center, Research Triangle Park, NC

• Graham Roberts, ACTNET, Rivonia, South Africa

• Michael Ronayne, Paramount Publishing, Old Tappan, NJ

• Carl Shackford, Busch Entertainment, St. Louis, MO

• Red Sigle, Electronic Data Systems, San Diego, CA

• Svein Sire, Alcatel Stk Bedriftssystemer, Oslo, Norway

• Glenn Soltau, Black Dot Graphics, Crystal Lake, IL

• Ted Sowinski, CNA Insurance Companies, Chicago, IL

• Steve Stevenson, FMC Corp., Dallas, TX

• Clive Stirling, Mentecaptus, Epsom Surrey, England

• Steve Taylor, Distributed Network Associates, Inc., Greensboro, NC

• Lee Tollett, M-I Drilling Fluids, Inc., Houston, TX

• Rodger Van Buskirk, Rockwell International, Seal Beach, CA

• Jim Walker, Triangle Universities Computation Center, Research Triangle Park, NC

• Jerry Wetherington, Northeast Regional Data Center, Gainesville, FL