Network Uptime

A: First, it's important to understand the DOS environment that the Sniffer software uses. There's nothing special or proprietary about the operating system that the Sniffer software uses. In fact, the Sniffer can operate on almost any recent version of DOS.

The DOS Sniffer software relies heavily on the hardware of the Sniffer machine. For this reason, the DOS version of the Sniffer software must run on computers that have been tested and certified by Network Associates. If you run the DOS Sniffer software on a computer that has not been tested by NAI, the Sniffer software may not run properly, if at all! The Dolch platform has been tested and certified by Network Associates as performing properly with the DOS version of the Sniffer software.

Fortunately, the Dolch platform is a very powerful Intel computer that can run many other applications. There are a few different ways to transfer files from this computer to another.

* PKZIP - This program is the most popular compression utility in DOS and Windows. There are also PKUNZIP utilities for many different operating systems. For the capture files that are too large for a single floppy disk, but not too large to fit onto a manageable number of floppies, use the -& command line option in the DOS version, or the Multiple Disk Spanning option in WinZIP. This little-known feature allows a file to be spanned across multiple floppy disks, until the entire file is saved! There are also a number of shareware and freeware utilities that can split a file into manageable pieces, and then reattach the file together again on the other system.

* LapLink - When files are simply too large to span diskettes, a computer-to-computer cable transfer with a program like LapLink can be very helpful. Through a serial or parallel port, LapLink and other similar programs can transfer very large files in a matter of minutes! Although the latest version of LapLink is Windows-based, the older DOS version is still supported. Similar shareware and freeware programs can also accomplish the same task.

* DOS-based Network Drivers - The network cards in a Sniffer are normal Ethernet or token ring cards, and will work perfectly with normal network drivers. By loading NetWare or Windows NT DOS drivers, a network drive can be MAPped or NET USEd for a quick file transfer! Since these drivers cannot coexist in memory at the same time as the Sniffer software, a separate configuration must be used in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.

* Dual-Boot to Windows (or any other operating system) - The DOS Sniffer won't run in Windows, but there's no reason you can't load Windows on the Dolch platform, and dual-boot between the two operating systems. With the appropriate network drivers, Windows can be a great front-end for file transfers!

As mentioned above, the DOS Sniffer's CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files contain the necessary configurations to operate the Sniffer properly. Before making any changes to your Sniffer, make a backup of these files! Creating multiple configurations in the CONFIG.SYS file works perfectly with the Sniffer software. The DOS version of the Sniffer software is flexible enough to allow for re-installation at any time, so don't be afraid to experiment!