[Info-vax] Is a simple to use virtual Alpha aready feasible?

[tadamsmar]

On Wednesday, December 11, 2013 1:17:33 PM UTC-5, Stephen Hoffman wrote:
> On 2013-12-11 17:32:54 +0000, tadamsmar said:
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> 
> 
> I'd suggest not leading with a solution and a request for help with it. 
> 
>  Not to start with, at least.  Please start with some background on the 
> 
> general problems you are solving — please resist the urge to suggest 
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> how you might choose to solve these problems — what what general 
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> constraints and requirements are involved.
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> 
> 
> > Can you configure a PC so that it could replace a bare DS10?
> 
> 
> 
> Yes.  No.  Maybe.  Depends on factors not in evidence.
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> 
> 
> > That is, so that you could just disconnect the bus cables in a ds10 and 
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> > connect them to cards in the PC and then boot and run?
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> 
> 
> That depends *greatly* on what those cables are hooked to.
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> 
> 
> > Can you do this with freeware?
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> 
> 
> Maybe.  But there's not enough information to determine that.  Even 
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> with more information, prototyping would be typical.
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> 
> 
> > It seemed like vtAlpha might do that. The documentation seemed to 
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> > advising you from just using your old disks, which seems to imply that 
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> > you *could* just use your old disks.
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> 
> 
> Is there a particular requirement for reusing these apparently-ancient 
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> and clearly-sometimes-failing hard disks, and not newer equipment?
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> 
> 
> > Opps, forgot to move the cables from the 2 Ethernet ports! Those are 
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> > needed also.
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> 
> 
> Emulators tend to have more complex networking, as it's virtual;  
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> dependent on the emulation and on the host's own network connection.  
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> Plus you might not get the performance needed, barring 
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> paravirtualization or such.  Details on the particular network-related 
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> requirements here might help, too.
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> 
> 
> > Of course, a bare DS10 would still be cheaper, perhaps, for the same 
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> > performance.
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> 
> 
> If you want cheap and fast, Itanium blows the sneakers off of Alpha.  
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> More expandable, too.  Alpha is increasingly of the vintage that the 
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> gear is generally getting more expensive, and decent-grade and 
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> functional EV6 or EV7 gear is holding its prices and variously 
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> increasing, then you have higher Alpha license prices and the general 
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> problems of getting Alpha licenses from HP.
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> -- 
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> Pure Personal Opinion | HoffmanLabs LLC

I was not meaning to state a problem.

I was just thinking wouldn't this be neat.

Also, when I look at the virtual alpha world, it looks harder than just buying another Alpha.  What if it was as easy as buying another Alpha?