Re: Rookie question for the experts

From: David J. Dachtera (djesys.nospam_at_fsi.net)
Date: 06/18/03 

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 21:26:28 -0500

Dirk Munk wrote:
>
> David J. Dachtera wrote:
> > Peter 'EPLAN' LANGSTOEGER wrote:
> >
> >>[snip]
> >>This seems to become another religion war (4 vs. 5).
> >
> >
> > Well, not so much "religion" as "ease of management".
> >
> > For those outfits with a big enough DECnet network, Phase-V is probably
> > valuable, if rather ponderous to learn to manage. For most others,
> > Phase-IV is probably still the ticket for "set it and forget it"
> > networking.
>
> With Phase IV you can build networks of appr. 64000 DECnet hosts, I doubt if any
> DECnet network of that size exists. So size is not the issue.

Well, yes and no. In theory, (63*1024)+1023 or 65,535 nodes total are
possible in a Phase-IV only network. However, the total number is not as
much an issue as the limit on area numbers. In an organization of suhc
size, there would likely be a need to organize nodes into more than 63
"areas". Hence, the DECnet-Plus concept of "domains". This allows, at
the very least, a naming scheme that will allow a degree of organization
not available in Phase-IV.

With that, however, also comes complexity.

> >>[snip]
> >>Only problem/annoyance I have with is the absence of multiwildcard support.
> >>
> >> NCL> SHOW NSP LOCAL NSAP * REMOTE NSAP * ALL
> >>or
> >> NCL> SHOW ROUTING CIRCUIT * REACHABLE ADDRESS * ALL
> >>
> >>gives %NCL-E-MULTILEVELWILD, multi-level wildcarding not allowed
> >>If this is fixed, then I'd say, DECnet-Plus is almost perfect.
> >
> >
> > ...except that it then still lacks a comprehensible user interface.
>
> I admit NCL does have a steep learning curve.
>
> However, it is not as difficult as many people think. NCL stricktly follows the
> 7-layer OSI model, and once you understand that in principle rather simple model
> and how it is implemented in NCL, then NCL becomes far more easy to understand.
> Then you can see the logic in the NCL structure.

What is lacking, then is a "wizard"-like facility that accepts data from
teh user and builds/maintains the configuration building the layers from
the bottom up.

> And from my experience then you will learn to appreciate Phase V as an excellent
> product, and again in my view a better, more high-tech product as Phase IV.

For the need it fills, I'm sure DECnet-V *IS* an excellently functional
product. The management "layer" was all but left out, IMO. 

-- 
David J. Dachtera
dba DJE Systems
http://www.djesys.com/
Unofficial Affordable OpenVMS Home Page:
http://www.djesys.com/vms/soho/

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