An experiment with the newcastle connection protocol
C. R. Snow, H. Whitfield · Software Practice and Experience · 1986
Abstract An experiment is described in which a set of Unix systems linked together into a Unix United system by means of the Newcastle Connection Protocol1 is also linked to a system with a dissimilar structure. It demonstrates that the Newcastle Connection technique can be used to connect together operating systems with differing structures and philosophies. The non‐Unix system, known as Nimrod, offers a set of services which can be mapped onto requests for service from standard user processes running on a remote Unix system. The services offered by Nimrod are restricted to those required for providing remote input and output to a terminal, but the results of the experiment suggest that increasing the range of services offered would be possible, despite the substantial differences in structure between Nimrod and Unix. Some of the problems associated with greater levels of inter‐system connection are also discussed.