Category Archives: Networking

1989 Networking: NetWare 386

Posted on July 20, 2024 by Michal Necasek

Thanks to the recent warez mega dump, another long lost gem has come to light: NetWare 386, also known as NetWare 3.0. In September 1989, Novell released NetWare 386 V3.0, the first in a long line of 32-bit network operating … Continue reading →

Posted in 386, NetWare, Networking, Novell, PC history | 22 Comments

1989 Networking: OS/2 NetWare Requester 1.1

Posted on May 7, 2022 by Michal Necasek

When I wrote about the pre-release NetWare Requester for OS/2, the oldest archived officially released NetWare OS/2 Requester was version 1.2 from 1990. In the meantime, version 1.1 of the requester showed up, although I only became aware of that … Continue reading →

Posted in NetWare, Networking, OS/2, PC history, Virtualization | 11 Comments

DOS SMB Client Performance

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Michal Necasek

Recently I had the need to use several different DOS VMs that all used a SMB network client. Although I did not use networking heavily, I noticed that there are massive differences in performance between the VMs. Copying a circa … Continue reading →

Posted in DOS, IBM, Microsoft, Networking | 15 Comments

Was the NE2000 Really That Bad?

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Michal Necasek

Over the last few months I have been on and off digging into the history of early PC networking products, especially Ethernet-based ones. In that context, it is impossible to miss the classic NE2000 adapter with all its offshoots and … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Com, Ethernet, Networking, Novell, PC history | 15 Comments

MS LAN Manager NDDK Anyone?

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Michal Necasek

For R&D purposes, I would very much like to get my hands on the circa 1991 Microsoft LAN Manager Network Device Driver Kit which was meant to support the development of NDIS 2.0 drivers. While it is obvious that some … Continue reading →

Posted in Development, DOS, Microsoft, Networking, OS/2 | 10 Comments

PCLP CSD Hunt

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Michal Necasek

Not long ago the OS/2 Museum acquired a boxed copy of the IBM PC LAN Program (PCLP) version 1.3 (1988) on 3.5″ floppies. The IBM PC Network Program (1985), later renamed to the IBM LAN Program, was IBM’s first PC … Continue reading →

Posted in Archiving, IBM, Networking, PC history | 9 Comments

Emulating EtherLink

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Michal Necasek

Spurred by the discovery of a pre-release OS/2 NetWare Requester from early 1988 with a very thin selection of drivers, several months ago I decided to write emulation of the classic 3Com 10Mbps Ethernet 3C501 card, also known as EtherLink. … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Com, Networking, PC hardware, PC history, Virtualization | 33 Comments

1987 Networking: ELS NetWare 286 Level I 2.0a

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Michal Necasek

A rare find recently turned up: NetWare from 1987, specifically the low-end ELS variant of NetWare 286 version 2.0a (ELS may be claimed to mean Entry Level System or maybe Entry Level Server, but at least originally it stood for … Continue reading →

Posted in 286, 3Com, Kryoflux, NetWare, Networking | 29 Comments

DOS Wireless Networking, Continued

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Michal Necasek

As I recently mentioned, wireless networking is extra difficult when the access point reboots itself at the slightest hint of heavier traffic. The faulty TP-Link router was temporarily replaced with a Netgear WG602 of similar vintage. The Netgear has been … Continue reading →

Posted in DOS, Networking, NFS, TCP/IP, Wireless | 3 Comments

Wireless Networking in DOS

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Michal Necasek

Wireless networking has a long history, longer than most people realize. NCR’s WaveLAN was available in 1990 and of course supported DOS. But WaveLAN was only the precursor to IEEE 802.11 and it is completely incompatible with IEEE-standard networking equipment. … Continue reading →

Posted in DOS, Networking, Wireless | 19 Comments