Choosing TCP/IP or UUCP

Choosing TCP/IP or UUCP

This section compares UUCP and the TCP/IP protocol suite for various purposes. You can use them together, each for the tasks for which it is best suited. Both UUCP and TCP/IP software are standard features of the IRIX operating system. To use the TCP/IP software, you must have one of these communications mechanisms:

a connection to an Ethernet network
the optional FDDI hardware and software
the Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) software

To use UUCP, you must be connected to a serial network or to any TCP/IP network.

TCP/IP provides reliable interactive and batch services. UUCP is a batch-mode service; when you issue a uucp command, it is placed in a queue with other commands. The system checks the queue at regular intervals and executes the commands that it finds. After your command is carried out, UUCP reports the results of the command. The time it takes to carry out a command on a remote station varies on different stations. Table 7-1 shows a comparison of features of TCP/IP and UUCP.

Comparison of TCP/IP and UUCP
TCP/IP Features UUCP Features
runs on Ethernet and FDDI, and over serial lines runs over serial lines or over TCP/IP links
transfers files interactively transfers files in batch mode
executes commands on remote stations interactively executes commands on remote stations in batch mode
sends mail interactively or in batch mode sends mail in batch mode
starts a shell on a remote station starts a shell on a remote station
provides remote login facilities with rlogin/telnet provides remote login facilities with cu
transfers data to any station running TCP/IP transfers data to any station running UUCP

Comparison of TCP/IP and UUCP
TCP/IP Features	UUCP Features
runs on Ethernet and FDDI, and over serial lines	runs over serial lines or over TCP/IP links
transfers files interactively	transfers files in batch mode
executes commands on remote stations interactively	executes commands on remote stations in batch mode
sends mail interactively or in batch mode	sends mail in batch mode
starts a shell on a remote station	starts a shell on a remote station
provides remote login facilities with rlogin/telnet	provides remote login facilities with cu
transfers data to any station running TCP/IP	transfers data to any station running UUCP