CD‐ROM access across a WAN: the experiences of the Polytechnic of Central London

In 1988, VINE reported on developments at the Polytechnic of Central London (PCL) which made CD‐ROM available on the Polytechnic's wide area network (WAN) to all terminals and to PCs emulating dumb terminals. This was the first stage in the Polytechnic's networking plans and provided multi‐user access to a single CD‐ROM. This, however, was a relatively limited objective providing no choice of CD‐ROM and allowing only one user to access that CD‐ROM at any one time. The ultimate aim is to provide simultaneous multi‐user access to a variety of CD‐ROMs from most PCs and terminals on the Polytechnic network. PCL are currently in the process of doing just that.