[Info-vax] booting vaxstation off alpha

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2013-02-10 10:44:10 +0000, Phillip Helbig---undress to reply said:

> In article <kf6qaj$enn$1 at dont-email.me>, Stephen Hoffman
> <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid> writes:
> 
>> Now since you're looking at DECnet and clustering...
>> 
>> First, to ensure there's no confusion around the relationship between
>> DECnet and clustering...
>> 
>> ....SET HOST is unrelated to clustering.
>> 
>> ....DECnet is unrelated to clustering.
>> 
>> ....Clustering does not require DECnet.
>> 
>> ....DECnet does not need nor use nor depend on clustering.
> 
> Do you need DECnet at all?

Officially — as of OpenVMS V6.2 — no.  You do not need DECnet.  At all.

Unofficially, you didn't need DECnet prior to OpenVMS V6.2, if you 
weren't using remote-booted cluster satellites, and if you didn't mind 
not having MONITOR CLUSTER or a few other non-critical features.  I ran 
clusters with no DECnet operating, and well prior to OpenVMS V6.2.

OpenVMS V6.2 added the LANCP tool for MOP (so satellite boots can be 
used), and added IP support into the VPM server used for MONITOR, and 
removed DECnet from the base OpenVMS distro; DECnet Phase IV became a 
layered product kit.

A usual confusion that arises here is involves folks believing that 
clustering operates "over" DECnet.  It doesn't.  The two are completely 
separate protocols, and separate implementations.

There's one old configuration where DECnet did operate over a cluster 
communications interconnect, but few folks use the CI cluster 
interconnect anymore, and that particular DECnet capability wasn't 
implemented on DSSI or any other subsequent cluster communications 
interconnects.  With those, you needed a secondary network connection, 
and that was usually Ethernet.

-- 
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