Banyan Systems Inc of Westboro, Massachusetts has been showing off a version of its Vines Virtual Network Operating System on a DEC MicroVAX II running Unix at the Networld ’87 show at the Dallas Infomart. Banyan claims that Vines is the first totally integrated IBM Personal networking system with comprehensive network services available on a range of platforms from Personals to optimised servers to minicomputers, adding that in its opinion other vendors only offer tactical solutions to interfacing with VAXs and other hosts. They either provide connection to a VAX processor through terminal emulation or they allow the VAX to act as a server on the network. Banyan intends to make the VAX more than a server by transparently integrating terminal emulation and PC-DOS file access to the VAX, as well as integrating the VAX into the Vines environment which comes with multiple gateways, StreetTalk and internetworking. Banyan intends to port Vines to VMS but notes that Unix was fast becoming a popular alternative to the VMS operating system for users of VAX and MicroVAX products. Personals are connected to the MicroVAX’S internal Q-bus via Ethernet and any Banyan-supported Ethernet adaptor can be used in the Personals; the MicroVAX II is simply equipped with an internal DEQNA Ethernet communications controller.
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