[Info-vax] sic transit gloria mundi

[Rich Jordan]

On Feb 16, 2:52 pm, hel... at astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de (Phillip Helbig---
undress to reply) wrote:
> As part of my hardware upgrade, I just shut down a trusty VAXstation
> 4000 90.  It had been up for over a year.  While using DDS, I can't have
> it usefully in the cluster.  After moving to faster ALPHAs, I don't need
> it, and need faster network and disks which only the ALPHAs support as
> well as a more modern TCPIP with more anti-spam features (otherwise I
> have trouble if a VAX gets the cluster alias, so I actually wrote some
> code to keep the cluster alias on an ALPHA as long as one is in the
> cluster, but of course that partially defeats the purpose of the cluster
> alias).
>
> In contrast to my original plans, I won't retire it, but rather keep it
> on standby and boot it into the cluster (no problem once all shadow sets
> have identical disks again) when I need access to SCSI devices which I
> have no room (i.e. not enough free SCSI IDs on the buses on the other
> machines) for elsewhere, i.e. old tape drives, CD drives (nice to have
> several at once when installing layered products) etc.  (The limiting
> speed will be the drive speed, so a slow processor, SCSI bus, network
> card etc are not a disadvantage.)
>
> My VMS experience started in 1992 on a cluster with 2 VAXstation 3100
> 76 (one an SPX) and some sort of MicroVAX (I was also on the 3100s).  
> About 20 people were logged in at any one time, some doing image
> processing.  I think the cluster originally cost about DM 100,000.  
> Little did I think then that one day I would have 16 VAXen (and 28
> ALPHAs) at home, all for myself.
>
> The VAXstation 4000 is of course similar to the VAXstation 3100, but a
> bit faster, without the annoying 1-GB limit for the boot disk, has a
> standard SCSI cable etc.  A really nice machine.  I'm glad I don't have
> to completely retire it.

I know how you feel.  While I still have my trusty 3100-30 SPX at work
(its my primary VMS system support front end for all our customer
sites), my home VAXstation 3100m76 SPX hasn't been booted up, nor had
a monitor connected to it in a couple of years.  I feel bad about that
but the Alpha is just so much nicer to use for day to day ops.  I gave
away its original twin years ago but can't make myself surplus my last
VAX.  I just know if I did I'd need it for something within a week....

The 4000s were nice machines, especially the 90 and up.  I never
managed to get a 90, 90a or 96 at a bargain price; there's still
surprising demand for those.  They had better graphics options than
the 3100s too.