The ethernet network at UNC-CH is very large and generally flat. The latter term means that there is very little routing done, and that for most intents and purposes you should think of the network as a single very large LAN.
Issues covered in this document:
Although Macs are very capable IP platforms, Appletalk is their "native" language, and what Macs use typically to support their file sharing and printing under. For a variety of reasons Appletalk is not well suited to a flat network of the size here at UNC-CH, and support for this protocol is now tenuous at best. Jim Gogan, Director of ATN's Networking and Communications, has been very vocal on this topic over the last few years, see:
Fortunately, Apple is moving off of this protocol--they have for some time provided AppleshareIP for client and servers, and support LPR style printing over TCP/IP. Unfortunately, most folks at UNC CH use NT and older Novell file servers that do not support Appleshare over IP out of box, and ApplehareIP is not yet supported for the Appleshare Personal Filesharing that allows Mac users to mount one another's hard drives as shares to the desktop.
Personal Comment: I'm the Network Manager for Computer Science, and we filter out Appletalk traffic at the head of our network, so Appletalk runs inside the CS network, but we do not propogate or receive Appletalk traffic across our boundary to the campus network. I like this setup quite well since we're in one building--Mac users can access each other, servers and printers over Appletalk, and we don't have problems with Chooser or jumping lists, or Appletalk broadcast storms. We've transitioned effectively to IP based products like Dave and OpenDoor, as well as Apple's AppleshareIP and OS X software. If you're a Network Manager or Support Professional for Macintosh users, and can filter Appletalk effectively for your site, I'd recommend you consider it. This can only be a stopgap measure though, as connectivity speeds increase, sooner or later you will have to drop Appletalk!
So what to do? Depends on what the profile of your network and your users....
This is traditional file server networking, in which workstations connect to a central server.
Peer to peer networking meaning connecting your workstation to other workstations. Macs have supported this since System 7.0 came out, but only under Appletalk. Mac OS 9 supports peer to peer filesharing over IP. Windows machines use SMB/CIFS for peer to peer services under versions WFW3.x, and Win95/98/NT/2K.
See also:
Supported under 7.6.x and 8.1 and higher (not 8.0!) with the version 8.5.1 of the Laserwriter software, LPR printing allows Macs to reach printers or print servers running IP protocol. To do this, you use the Desktop Printer Utility found in the Apple Extras:Apple Laserwriter Software folder to build a desktop printer object that references the PPD associated with the device, the IP address, and any queue information. This sounds complicated, but all it really means is you run the Desktop Printer Utility and plug in the values for the type of printer you're using, the IP address of the Printer or Print Server, and the Queue name, if you use print queues. Once you've done this, the IP based printer connection appears in the Print dialog boxes in the pop-up list (obviously, it doesn't show up in Chooser!).
More information from Apple.