Re: terminal server for vax?

[Please do not mail me a copy of your followup]

In article <sZO1g.6590$po3.2201@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> you write:

For VAX 4000 series boxes in that same vintage, likely one of the
DECserver series terminal servers was chosen. Examples include the
DECserver 90 series, or DECserver 700 series, or other similar options.

Looking on ebay I see that there are a variety of products called
'DECserver'. So far they are all terminal servers. Is it safe to
assume this name was only used for terminal servers? Is there any
qualitative difference in functionality between the DB25 port style
DECservers and the RJ45 port style DECservers?

My motivation here is that I have a collection of vintage serial
terminals. I would like to have a multiplicity of them hooked to a
single machine that could allow some sort of text-based timesharing.

The options I have are:
- PDP 11/03 running RT-11
Seems too underpowered. AFAIK RT-11 just allows one "console"
session and the other serial ports are just treated as output
devices (like to an LA-120).

- VAXserver 4000/300
It should be able to handle it, but as you mention its not the
kind of machine that was typically wired up with serial ports
and used as a timesharing machine. You mentioned about the
multi-user license; would the OpenVMS hobbyist license allow
multiple logins?

- plain old PC w/DigiBoard and SIMH
I'd have to buy the digiboard ($$$) and even then I don't know
how well SIMH would be able to use those serial ports provided
by the DigiBoard. On the other hand, if this works I could
run RSTS/E which is the timesharing environment I used in the
1978-1980 time frame.

There were certainly various serial communications options for the
Q-bus (including the CXY series), but these tended to be options that
were relatively discouraged in favor of connecting the terminal(s) into
multiple hosts via LAT or IP; via the network.

Can the DECserver models provide LAT connectivity, or do you need to
get a different box for that? I am under the impression that VMS has
LAT support builtin on the host side.

I looked at the DECserver 90 manual which is what gave me the idea for
buying some sort of terminal connectivity to my VAX. They mention
installation of software in the manual, but I didn't drill deep enough
to know if this was software installed on the 90 itself or on a host.
Is there some sort of host software that must be installed in order
to service these serial ports via the terminal server as distinct login
sessions? I am not familiar with how VMS handles this and while my VAX
has OpenVMS installed, I am a complete newbie to VMS :-).

I know in *nix they did something like associate the login program
with the serial device. So you would get a login by pressing RETURN
on the terminal. I vaguely recall using a LAT server in 1989 to which
you had to request connection to a particular host and then you got a
telnet type login session. ISTR that you could have the terminal
connected to multiple hosts via the LAT and could switch back and
forth. Was specific terminal support required for this to work? I
only did this with a VT220, so I don't know if it was exploiting
something that was present only in DEC terminals.

Various of the DIGITAL System and Options Catalog (SOC) entries for
many of these old systems remain available in the left navigation at the
URL <http://www.hp.com/go/productbulletin/>.

I didn't find anything there on the DECserver 90, 700. Do you know
specifically if its there and I just missed it?

Thanks!
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
<http://pilgrimage.scene.org>
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: terminal server for vax?
    ... DECserver series terminal servers was chosen. ... DECserver 90 series, or DECserver 700 series, or other similar options. ... session and the other serial ports are just treated as output ... Multi-user basic would also use all the terminals as a kind of ...
    (comp.sys.dec)
  • Re: TOP Network Interface Port of a Sun Ultra 30
    ... now know what I'm going to do to have serial ports on my Linux system ... things I have connected to serial ports again. ... *may* have been stuck on the network... ... I have 7 terminals throughout the house. ...
    (comp.sys.sun.hardware)
  • Re: TOP Network Interface Port of a Sun Ultra 30
    ... terminals, you can use one of them for testing the rest of the ... things I have connected to serial ports again. ... pin 2 at one end to pin 3 at the other and vice versa. ... to the local practices and connections. ...
    (comp.sys.sun.hardware)
  • Re: VMS with BULL terminals
    ... Now I want to connect to a VMS ... | output of the host scrolls only in this single line. ... | One DEC VT510 in VT220 emulation mode, working as the system console, ... the DEC terminals, so incompatibility often is revealed by them. ...
    (comp.unix.misc)
  • Re: VMS with BULL terminals
    ... Now I want to connect to a VMS ... | output of the host scrolls only in this single line. ... | One DEC VT510 in VT220 emulation mode, working as the system console, ... the DEC terminals, so incompatibility often is revealed by them. ...
    (comp.os.vms)