[Info-vax] VMS 5.0

[Richard B. Gilbert]

On 11/10/2011 12:29 PM, Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
> On 11/10/2011 12:08 PM, Bill Pechter wrote:
>> In article<X7udndDIALKHPSTTnZ2dnUVZ_hSdnZ2d at giganews.com>,
>> Richard B. Gilbert<rgilbert88 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>> On 11/8/2011 2:42 PM, Johnny Billquist wrote:
>>>> On 2011-11-08 15.50, Bob Koehler wrote:
>>>>> In
>>>>> article<e26cf339-adbf-48b1-aaf0-8bf7e6bceac7 at i10g2000vbk.googlegroups.com>,
>>>>>
>>>>> abrsvc<dansabrservices at yahoo.com> writes:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The more likely contents are the standanlone backup kit. IIRC, the
>>>>>> actual VMS software was distributed on magtape,TK50 and removeable
>>>>>> disk only.
>>>>>
>>>>> Some VMS update kits were distributed on TU58.
>>>>>
>>>>> One of the 3.x update kits was on several TU58, at the time the only
>>>>> option for 11/750 owners. (I think it was on 8" floppies for
>>>>> 11/780). At the time only full installs shipped on 9-track.
>>>>>
>>>>> It took so long to ingest from TU58 and DEC got so many complaints
>>>>> that DEC decided, and loudly declared at the next DECUS symposium,
>>>>> that in the future _all_ kits would be available on 9-track.
>>>>>
>>>>> Then CD became the standard media for Alpha, and available for VAX,
>>>>> so we immediately ordered a Qbus CD reader for our MV II.
>>>>
>>>> I can't even imagine how many TU58 it would take for a full VMS
>>>> distribution. About 100 tapes maybe? Considering that the standalone
>>>> backup alone is 5 RX01 floppies, and the capacity of the TU58 is
>>>> similar, the number of disks/tapes even for some update kit quickly
>>>> becomes ridiculous as far as the number of media is concerned.
>>>>
>>>> Johnny
>>>
>>> ISTR that you could die of old age trying to install from TU58!
>>>
>>> Just doing a BACKUP /VERIFY to nine track 1600 BPI tape took about
>>> fourteen hours! At this late date, I understand why DEC gave us
>>> (Princeton University) an 11/750 with RA-81 disk at an extreme discount!
>>> Nobody in his right mind would have paid for it if he had to install
>>> it and/or do full disk backups!
>>
>> What tape drive was this -- a TapeStretcher-11 or TE16.
>>
>> The TU77 was much faster. Backup/verify at 125 ips was a lot better
>> than anything off the Unibus in the day.
>>
>>> I put in a few fourteen hour days doing BACKUP and RESTORE to remedy
>>> disk/file fragmentation. I also put in a good deal of time trying to
>>> convince users that they should allocate a reasonable amount of
>>> contiguous disk space to hold their data.
>>>
>>> Eventually, somebody wrote some software that could defragment an ODS-2
>>> file system without doing a backup and restore.
>>
>>
>> I remember doing DSC on VAX/VMS 2.x when doing installs... Not too bad
>> with a string of TU77's. OK when going disk to disk on RP06's too.
>>
>> (Long time since Princeton. Was there a year ago at a meeting. They're
>> moving to a new datacenter. Time flies.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>>
>
> What are they doing with "80 Prospect Street" now? When I was still

I think my memory just failed me.  *87* Prospect feels more correct!!!!

> working at Princeton, they had a "motor-generator" providing DC for the
> 360/91. It was about the size of a Greyhound Bus! The computer room was
> big enough to play football in!
>
> Time moves on and I've got more computing power and storage underneath
> my desk!
>
>