A decade or more ago, there was a very low-cost LAN scheme that did this under DOS. The catch was that each physical connection only linked 2 machines. I think it was also a daisy-chain arrangement, so every machine except the two at the ends had 2 serial ports tied up. But it did function, albeit slowly, as a backbone LAN. If you want to do something similar in Linux, you can ... though I personally think it more trouble than it's worth (since these days, cheap Ethernet cards cost $10 and way outperform any serial link). Make the "middle" machine what is commonly called a PPP server, supporting ppp connections on both serial ports. Make sure it has IP Forwarding enabled (modern kernels usually do). Then have the other two machines make PPP connections to the middle machine, and make sure (via route) that each knows to use the middle machine as gateway to the other. This description is pretty sketchy, intended to give you only an overview of the process. If you decide to give it a try, start with the PPP HowTo, and don't hesitate to post specific questions you have as you move ahead. At 01:37 PM 8/2/99 +0100, Anthony F. E. Lopez-Vito wrote: >Hi, > >Sometime ago I heard a way to "network" pcs over a serial cable rather than >via LAN cards. Can anyone point me to this information? I'm thinking of >Linux<->Linux and possilbly another one that's Linux<->Win95 ------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"--- Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo Palo Alto, CA 94303-3603 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------
