HP-UX 11.x and V-Class

[Jeff Schussele]

Well, I've had quite a few 2500s & 2600s over that last several years & never encountered one with internal hard disk drives - I guess it's possible though - they are big ole beasts after all. I've just never seen one & when HP comes out to install them, *they* act like it's not even an option.
One of those cables goes to the internal tape drive - I do know that. And don't even get me started on that tape drive. Having to down a production system to swap a tape drive borders on lunacy IMHO.

Rgds,
Jeff

[Iain Ashley]

There are two flavours of V-class - technical, for short run, build and rebuild operations like mathematical modeling etc. This was the only version that included the disk tray (never seen one though). The enterprise database version worked on the premise that the tray would not provide sufficient space for such an environment. go figure ;)

Regards
Iain

[bgawert]

So it looks like I have the versions for the technical market. But since the trays are missing I think it doesn't matter too much, and I'm sure HP will charge me an arm and a leg for them if I order them as spare parts, so I think I'll stay with the external drive solution.

There's another question that raised: I know You need the SPP Controller workstation to controll the V-Class, to update firmware etc. But if I'd connect a dumb terminal (I.e. my HP C1099A) to the V-Class' serial port I'd get the same behavior like i.e. from an old E-Class. I can see the firmware messages which are quite similar to the ones other HP9000 servers show, I can initiate a device search, and can choose a device to boot. All like with most other HP9000 servers. So can't I just connect a dumb terminal and install HP-UX on a V-Class, and wouldn't it run just like on any other HP9000 server? I know there are some things the SPP workstation is required for, but wouldn't it also be possible to have a V-Class running HP-UX without connecting a SPP workstation?

Benjamin

[Jeff Schussele]

Good question.
I've never run any of the dozens I've worked on w/o an SPP. But you ought to be able to pick up a B180 or 712 w/10.2 dirt cheap on ebay or such. Then I think you can get the SPP SW free from HP as well.
Frankly the SPP is required for much more than "special" tasks and I seriously doubt whether HP would even support the V w/o it.

Rgds,
Jeff

[bgawert]

Well, I got one SPP (B180L) with the two machines. But I want to sell the V2600 with the SPP I have, and use the V2500 just for participating at SETI@Home to push my Workunit number a little bit ;-)

What exactly does the SPP on the V-Classes? I know it's necessary for flashing firmware or watch hardware status, but what else does the SPP software?

Benjamin

[Bill Hassell]

If there's nothing wrong with the machine, you can certainly hook a plain old serial terminal to the port and run it forever. The Xwindows workstation is used to display the console port in one window and the special diagnostic port (LAN-based) messages in another window. So if it ain't broke, keep the dumb terminal. I believe that the SPP software has a daemon that understands the diag firmware codes and translates them to text on the screen.

[bgawert]

Ok, so the SPP software is mainly (but not exclusively) for diag purposes. At least I can sell the SPP B180L with the V2600.

Thank You very much to all for the help!

Benjamin