Subject: Network Research and Windows NT

From: Tim Salo <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 15:51:35 -0600 (CST)

We were recently asked about the feasibility of porting our Host ATM
Research Platform (HARP) software (http://www.msci.magic.net) to
Windows NT.  (HARP implements Classical IP over ATM under several
UNIX operating systems.)  This seems like an interesting question, beyond
the fact that those asking funded the development of HARP...

So, what thoughts do we have about using Windows NT as a platform for
network research?  Ideally, someone has written a paper about this which
explains why it is a good idea or a bad idea or whatever.  In the
absence of a convenient, existing paper, I have a few questions.

o	Are there any examples of Windows NT being used for network
	research?

o	Are there any TCP/IP implementations for Windows NT for which
	source code is freely available?  Are there any BSD TCP/IP
	ports available for NT?

o	Does anyone know how hard it might be to port BSD networking
	code to Windows NT?

o	Are there any device driver or IP/ATM implementations for
	Windows NT for which source code is freely available?

o	Should we decide to become learned in the ways of Windows NT,
	what sources of enlightenment can you recommend?

o	What are the benefits, disadvantages and risks of using
	Windows NT as a platform for network research?  Is it even
	possible?

o	Why doesn't Windows NT seem to be used for network research?
	Is something fundamental missing, (e.g., source code for 
	the networking code?  source code for the whole OS?)  Is
	Windows NT too new to expect widespread use in the research
	community?  Or, is it simply not UNIX?

It is with some trepidation that I ask these questions in this forum.
I don't want to start a religious war about, for example, the evils of
Microsoft.  (Perhaps, those discussions could move to com-priv, except
I subscribe to that too...)

-tjs