%BACKUP-F-CLUSTER, unsuitable cluster factor redux

[BrianT_1]

BT> The Alpha is not in the same cluster
BT> right now as the VAXes accessing the
BT> raidsets whose bitmap exceeds 255
BT> blocks. It is that Alpha that I said I
BT> intended to move from the cluster where
BT> it is to the cluster that requires the
BT> ability to restore the large bitmaps.

Right now, this Alpha has a 10mb/Full ethernet card in it. If I use the Alpha aas a backup engine, is there a 100mb Ethernet card I can use that OpenVMS V7.3-1 will recognize so that I get better backup speeds?

[BrianT_1]

BT> The Alpha is not in the same cluster
BT> right now as the VAXes accessing the
BT> raidsets whose bitmap exceeds 255
BT> blocks. It is that Alpha that I said I
BT> intended to move from the cluster where
BT> it is to the cluster that requires the
BT> ability to restore the large bitmaps.

Right now, this Alpha has a 10mb/Full ethernet card in it. If I use the Alpha aas a backup engine, is there a 100mb Ethernet card I can use that OpenVMS V7.3-1 will recognize to that I get better backup speeds?

[Ian Miller.]

I expect a DE500-AA or DE500-BA will work in your alpha. A DE600 would be OK too.

[BrianT_1]

IM> I expect a DE500-AA or DE500-BA will
IM> work in your alpha. A DE600 would be OK
IM> too.

According to dectrader.com, the DE500-AA is compatible with an AlphaServer 1000, which is what my Alpha is, but the DE500-BA is compatible with an AlphaServer 1000A and that doesn't match my Alpha. Reading information on the DE600 at hp-store.com wsays that it replaces both the DE500-AA and -BA in all applications, but Google shows me part numbers DE600-AA and 3X-DE600-AA. What's the difference there? See this: http://www.calhountech.com/search/index.php?part=DE600-AA&gclid=CPLHveXdn6ICFREeDQodG30zwQ

[BrianT_1]

Oh, and what's the difference between a DE500-AA and a DE500-XA?

[Ian Miller.]

DE500-AA work, -XA don't :-)
See
http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/vmsfaq/vmsfaq_025.html#supp9

For that vintage of hardware I would use a DE500-AA

[Jon Pinkley]

BT>Right now, this Alpha has a 10mb/Full ethernet card in it.
BT>If I use the Alpha aas a backup engine, is there a 100mb
BT>Ethernet card I can use that OpenVMS V7.3-1 will
BT>recognize so that I get better backup speeds?

Well it depends on what type of Ethernet controller is in the VAX 7730. I think the DEMNA-M is only 10Mbit, but Nemonix has a VAX XMI 100 Mb Ethernet Controller NXETHER-60.

So if you have a 100mbit Ethernet controller in the VAX already, then upgrading the Alpha to 100mbit would be relatively cheap (eBay), but if you don't already have 100mbit on the VAX, I doubt that upgrading the VAX would be cost effective, unless someone gave you the XMI ethernet adapter. FDDI would be another possibility, but not cheap unless you can find the adapters "free".

Jon

[Shriniketan Bhagwat]

Hi Brian,

Can you please log a support call with HP for this issue?

Regards,
Ketan

[BrianT_1]

JP> Well it depends on what type of Ethernet
JP> controller is in the VAX 7730. I think
JP> the DEMNA-M is only 10Mbit, but Nemonix
JP> has a VAX XMI 100 Mb Ethernet Controller
JP> NXETHER-60.

The 7730s have DEMNAs, as you surmise. I have a 4600A with a 100Mb Nemonix card, but we found they're not really suitable because the drivers don't load early enough for SCS traffic to flow at initial boot. I ran into situations where that cluster wouldn't boot without another ethernet card connected but I don't know if that's because I didn't have the 100Mb card configured correctly or something else. Once VMS got far enough along to load the drivers, it would work fine. Since those systems also had FDDI cards, we allowed SCS traffic to flow through that interface but directed other protocols like LAT and LAD over the 100Mb link.

JP> FDDI would be another possibility, but
JP> not cheap unless you can find the
JP> adapters "free".

The two 7730s have DEMFAs in them already, but my company's networking group is forcing me to disconnect them and revert to the DEMNAs because the FDDI switch to which they had been connect is not a managed switch and can't be placed on a separate VLAN. They will not replace the switch with another FDDI switch that could be managed because it wouldn't be "standard", so they're turning it off.

SB> Can you please log a support call with
SB> HP for this issue?

How does one do that absent a support contract? We employ on a time-and-marterials basis a local company that still has on their staff people who know the VAX hardware. I know of no way to place a support call to HP nor hope HP would act upon it if I knew how.

[Ian Miller.]

Brian,
if you emailed openvms.programs at hp
then they may assist. The people who read those emails are already aware of this thread.