Re: terminal server for vax?

DECserver 100 and 200MC were DB25 connectors. There was another DS200
variant that had 50-pin (I think) telco jacks that used a special cable
and breakout box to provide MMJ ports. These units are LAT only, and
only have an AUI "thickwire" connection for ethernet so you'll need a
media convertor or 10Base-T microtransciever.

DECserver 250 had four DB25 serial and two line printer parallel
connectors. I'm pretty sure this unit is LAT only. Also AUI only if I
remember right.

DECserver 300 had sixteen MMJ connectors and had limited TCPIP support
in addition to LAT. Thinwire (BNC) or AUI selectable, I think.

DECserver 700-08 had eight DB25 ports with full modem control. The
700-16 had sixteen RJ45 ports with partial modem control. Theses units
support either base DECserver software with LAT and limited TCPIP
support, or the NAS software which provides more capable support all
around, but was licensed and is now hard to get. Some units came with
internal flash for the load software; on Ebay these are the ones going
for a fair amount of cash still. 10Base-T or AUI connectors,
switchable.

The DECserver 90M had 8 RJ45 ports of the same type as the DECserver
700-16. They support NAS software with LAT and TCPIP; they may also
have base DECserver software available; don't recall. Nearly every one
of these I've seen has been flash bootable, but they were orderable
without flash so be aware. These have held on to a high resale value.
If you don't have a DEChub 90, you will need a power supply; the power
supplies cost quite a bit in the aftermarket so get one with the unit
if you are buying used. 10Base-T and thinwire (BNC) connectors
available, plus the hub uplink, autoselected.

DECserver 90TL had eight RJ45 ports but different from the 90M; same
pinout but I think the flow control (and speed) were less capable. Not
NAS capable, uses the base DECserver software like the 700s can, and
also needs an external power supply if you are not using a DEChub 90.
Thinwire ethernet, and I think it also had 10Base-T and of course the
hub uplink, autoselected.

DECserver 90L and 90L+ had eight MMJ ports. These units boot from
their own internal flash memory and do NOT support TCPIP. Only a
thinwire connection is provided for ethernet, plus the hub uplink; no
10Base-T. The LAT implementation is very limited and configurable only
via a menu interface; in many ways these are less capable than the much
older DECserver 200 units, but are useful when you can't have a load
host for the software and only need LAT. I don't think you can use one
of these as a remote console access device as some have described in
other posts. Same caveats about power supplies as other DECserver 90
units.

Best bets: 90M with flash unless you need full modem control, then a
700-08. Flash boot can be very slow on some units (a 90M with 1M flash
can take 4-5 minutes), but having the flash means the units will boot
without a specially configured load host being available.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: What Terminal Servers are you using?
    ... >>I use DECserver 200s because I do not want to depend on IP. ... TCP/IP-capable DECservers are not dependent on TCP/IP. ... in addition to LAT, not instead of. ... they can connect to, set up dedicated ports, inbound-only ports, ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: OT: A part of Digital still lives !
    ... the goal is to replace the 24 serial ports I have on my ... LAT makes it easy to create devices on VMS that look ... to a specific port on the terminal server? ... The TNA device usualy locks/hangs up ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: Loosing all LAT connections on one machine in DECNet Network
    ... and one VAX/VMS) and several DECServer 200MC terminal servers. ... the LAT connections to the one VMS Machine are dropped. ... When we loose all the connections to the one VAX system the LAT ... you might get a better view of what's happening on the LAN if you can connect a sniffer to your LAN somewhere. ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: Loosing all LAT connections on one machine in DECNet Network
    ... This network has 5 Machines on it (four PDP-11/RSX11M+ ... and one VAX/VMS) and several DECServer 200MC terminal servers. ... the LAT connections to the one VMS Machine are dropped. ... When we loose all the connections to the one VAX system the LAT ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: Loosing all LAT connections on one machine in DECNet Network
    ... In the Data Center all 5 systems, VAX & PDPs plus one DECServer ... but outgoing LAT is currently disabled. ... LAT connections to the VAX when this happens. ... At least one of the DEC network card/transceiver combos was actually ...
    (comp.os.vms)