From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware
Am 11.05.24 um 20:13 schrieb Louis Ohland:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/355686665979
This is ID 6147, a Novell NetWare 286 "Micro Channel Compatible Key Card".
https://www.ardent-tool.com/adapters/pics/6147_1.jpg
Wikipedia states, that "Server licensing on early versions of NetWare
286 is accomplished by using a key card. The key card was designed for
an 8-bit ISA bus, and has a serial number encoded on a ROM chip. The
serial number has to match the serial number of the NetWare software
running on the server. To broaden the hardware base, particularly to
machines using the IBM MCA bus, later versions of NetWare 2.x do not
require the key card; serialised license floppy disks are used in place
of the key cards."
Netware 286 is obsolete by any means. I can't imagine what would
motivate me to use Netware 286 other than a limitation to 286 hardware.
I have sold my last 286 class PS/2 at least 20 years ago.
So this adapter belongs to the category of enhanced uselessness.
However, for me NetWare 386 is the number one network operating system
for the 8086, 286 and 386 based PS/2 systems. Almost all network cards
are supported, whether ethernet, token ring, arcnet, local talk or fddi,
and on the NetWare client side the demands on the processor and RAM are minimal. Ok, with IPX/SPX there is local area network only, no internet.
But what does a 286 want on the Internet?
There is MARS NWE, a free NetWare 3.x server emulator for x86 Linux:
http://www.compu-art.de/mars_nwe/index.html https://www.novell.com/documentation/suse91/suselinux-adminguide/html/ch17s03.html
Unfortunately, it looks like IPX was deleted from the Linux kernel
source code in 2018. But there is still virtualization ...
Wolfgang
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