virtcfb for VMS 8.x

[SDIH1]

We considered this:
1. Upgrading network : takes half a year
2. Proxies : lots of hardware and installation
and configuration issues, costs
(LBX, NX, Tarantella)
3. SSH tunneling with compression. As found http://keithp.com/~keithp/talks/lbxpost/paper.html, this might be as effective as LBX.
4. VNC: works, but only one session possible on a system, and only with real keyboard and mouse attached, which led to my original question: where is virtcfb or similar for modern VMS versions.

As I wrote before plans in the longer run will probably not do graphics over long distances using X.

In my experience modestly graphical X is working fine over long distances, provided network latency is stable and low.

[SDIH1]

The network problems have been investigated by
people that are actually knowledgeable on
network issues. They have identified a host of issues on the infrastructure including downright failure of components that made me despair that any tweaking of parameters at the VMS side would yield real improvement.
We did try a few ( by heart): raising retransmission timeout, and lowering pmtu size. This made errors shift to another category, the net result was almost nil, and certainly the graphical experience was not noticably influenced.
The whole network will be replaced, so I'm more inclined to find quick and dirty work arounds.

[Hoff]

If your network is horked so badly that X and ssh and such don't work, then there are no workarounds other than to go to off-line processing, or to batch access and such, or to courier your files around.

I've used a platform-specific screen sharing tool very analogous to VNC, and that tends to take more than X. And it's just as susceptible to IP retransmits.

Use a dial-in or such?

[SDIH1]

I don't think it will ever perform over this network, but it might just be workable using some kind of compression.

Using a VPN over a modest ADSL connection already would do the trick, not to mention the 100 mb fiber connection I will get at home this year for half the price of the current ADSL connection.
This will not be considered as a possible solution, I believe.

[Ian Miller.]

I guess you need the network fixing.

The most recent VNC port is at

http://fafner.dyndns.org/~alexey/

[SDIH1]

Ok, I think most things have been said.
The network needs to be fixed, thanks for
confirming. Also thanks for the helpful tips
and hints. I'll close this thread.

[SDIH1]

As said before: thanks!