A network operating system for interconnected LANs with heterogeneous data-link layers

Microcomputer workstations interconnected by local area networks (LANs) are used extensively for educational computing at the University of Waterloo, Canada. The authors present the user's view of both the Waterloo JANET LAN and the Project ARIES Network to understand the motivation behind the underlying LAN structure. This is followed by a description of the method of interconnection of the LANs, the addressing conventions used, and the implementation of the network operating system. Because of the variation in data-link layers, many of which did not follow the current standards, it was necessary to construct a network operating system which would tolerate their differences. This network operating system was implemented using the message-passive paradigm.< >