Re: What layered products are important for a VAX VMS system?

Dave Froble <davef@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Rich Alderson wrote:
Stephen Hoffman <Hoff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

The UCX (TCP/IP Services) and DECnet licenses -- or the NET-APP-SUPP
NAS license packages, which can include IP and DECnet -- are the two
most common choices, as these provide baseline networking.

Again, how early does UCX appear in VMS? If I run an early version, am I
going to have to do things via a terminal server? (We've done this for our
Tops-10 system, which never had a TCP/IP stack in general use.)

Early VAX systems had boards for connecting 8 and 16 serial lines. They
caused lots of overhead on the VAX system. Interrupts and such.

Terminal servers are a much better connection method. But you're
thinking they need DECnet or TCP/IP. Neither. They use LAT, a somewhat
low level protocol which works great with terminal servers. It's part
of the OS, but, needs to be started as part of the OS start-up
procedure. The start-up is in the template files provided with the OS.

DECnet and LAT are out. The corporate network is strictly TCP/IP, and terminal
server is something like a Cisco 2501.

The way the Tops-10 2065 is hooked to the net for telnet is by connecting its
16 terminal lines to two octopus cables on a 2501. I'm wondering if running an
early version of VMS will require the same kind of hookup.

I've got install tapes for 6.0 and 6.2. I've heard (in c.o.v., as I recall)
that 7.3 will run on a 785, but we might not choose to push the envelope.
We're really looking in the other direction.

There are not too many things that have been dropped from VMS. I cannot
think of any. Running a new version won't cause you to lose anything.
It will avoid problems.

V6.2 was a rather good version. If you don't want to go to V7.2, then
I'd suggest V6.2. I'd avoid anything between those two. Personal opinion.

For historical purposes, I may want to run a 5.x or 4.x system, or even 3.2 if
I correctly remember that that was the last version with the old interface that
looked like Tops-10 and the PDP-11 and PDP-8 UIs. But all of that depends on
what I can find. First, licenses!

--
Rich Alderson | /"\ ASCII ribbon |
news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | \ / campaign against |
"You get what anybody gets. You get a lifetime." | x HTML mail and |
--Death, of the Endless | / \ postings |
.