Decservers issues

[math_from_france]

Hi all,

I'm running under OpenVms on VAM Alpha machines.

These two hosts have UCX and TCP/IP support but we still need some dec-server to connect Epson FX printers and VT Terminals. We tried to convert theses LAT printers over IP by adding a HP Jetdirect connector. It works but I cant print special DLC caracters anymore because the special card wihch prints theses caracters can only be connected to a DecServer.

We use decserver for VT Terminal DEC too (special keyboard PF4, PF5 etc...).

How can I migrate all these decserver from LAT to IP ? Moreover, I cannot use VPN or any other new technology because of LAT.
Thanks,

[Ian Miller.]

what sort of DECserver ?
Some can do TCPIP

[Jon Pinkley]

I am not familiar with DLC characters, so I will assume the special card that connects to the DECserver uses an asynch serial connection instead of a parallel connection. Does this card fit inside the Epson FX printer?

We are successfully using Epson DFX-5000 printers using the built in serial connector connected to asynch ports of Cisco 2511 routers using TCP/IP. On the VMS side we are using the TELNETSYM for the printer queues.

$ show queue b53lp1/full
Printer queue B53LP1, idle, on SIGMA::"b53rtr1l:4001", mounted form SHIP_ORDER

/AUTOSTART_ON=(SIGMA::"b53rtr1l:4001",OMEGA::"b53rtr1l:4001") /BASE_PRIORITY=4
/DEFAULT=(FORM=DEFAULT) /LIBRARY=EPSLP Lowercase /OWNER=[SYSTEM]
/PROCESSOR=TCPIP$TELNETSYM /PROTECTION=(S:M,O:D,G:R,W:S) /SCHEDULE=(NOSIZE)
(IDENTIFIER=B53MEM,ACCESS=MANAGE)
$

On the Cisco 2511, you can reverse telnet to a port with tcp port number (4000 + asynch port number) which is similar to connecting to a jetdirect parallel print server using tcp port 9100. So to connect to a printer connected to asych port 12 of a Cisco 2500, we could tell telnetsym to connect to ip_address:4012.

We also use JetDirect 300x print servers connected to the parallel port of other DFX-5000 printers. The only differnce on the VMS side is that we use tcp port 9100.

If your DECservers support TCPIP, you will probably use tcp port 3000 + DECserver port number.

[Colin Butcher]

How does using LAT stop you using VLANs?

Port based VLANs will work. Protocol based VLANs will work. The only possible issue I can think of is that you might need to bridge between VLANs if you have configured your VLANs so that all the nodes in the same "LAT group" are not in the same VLAN.

Which DECservers do you have? Many of then provide IP connectivity as well as LAT connectivity. Then all you need to do is use TELNETSYM and connect to the appropriate TCPIP port in the DECserver that corresponds to the serial port you're using for the printer.

Are you running the most recent firmware in the DECservers?

The DECserver doesn't handle "special keys". That's done by VMS. LAT or TCP/IP are simply a transport mechanism between the terminal and the system that you're using.

A DECserver may interpret BREAK locally, but that's configurable as well. See the HELP inside the DECserver or the DECserver manuals at http://www.digitalnetworks.net/tech_doc_decse.asp and http://www.digitalnetworks.net/tech_doc_dnas.asp

Cheers, Colin (www.xdelta.co.uk).

[Jon Pinkley]

Colin,

You probably realized this 2 ms after clicking submit, but "math" said VPN.

However, you are correct, there is some other new technology, like VLANS, that will work with LAT :-)

Jon

[Hoff]

In addition to the other questions earlier in the thread, please post some details around the special card that can print these DLC characters you reference.

I'm guessing that this is a mechanism which provides a downloadable character set for these printers or these terminals, and that's feasible through several different means.

And if I've guessed correctly, what are the characters or character set that you are printing in the existing configuration?

And as for VPN and VLAN, it's all basically the same thing. Encrypted VLANs are feasible with most networking gear. Cisco tends to call these constructs VLANs, for instance.

Stephen Hoffman
HoffmanLabs

[Colin Butcher]

Jon,

True. Took a little longer than 2msec, more an "ohnosec".

Oddly enough I'd spent most of the day designing a VLAN and VPN configuration for a big network. I'd also been trying to get people to think how to bridge LAT between VLANs, or how to avoid having to do it by careful use of VLANs.

Oh well.

Cheers, Colin (www.xdelta.co.uk).