Re: terminal server for vax?

In article <e28rah$hou$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Richard <> wrote:
[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).

Actually, the RT11 could use any console device you'd like.
If you Sysgen'd in multiterminal support you could switch to another tty
line. Kind of like using the ms-dos mode command to switch the con:
device to a com port... (I remember using that a loooong time ago --
but forgot the syntax).

Multi-user basic would also use all the terminals as a kind of
time-share environment with multiple basic environments on the different
terminals. Did all of the above with a PDT11/150 back in my old Field
Service days.


- 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?

I know the Vaxstations do.

- 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.

Interesting idea. I've got a quad ports card down stairs... Could do
something like that using the 4 serial ports under FreeBSD...
Simh would need a way to attach the tty ports to a fake DZ11 type thing.


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!
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Bill
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: terminal server for vax?
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