[Info-vax] ODS-5 data/file recovery

[David Froble]

Stephen Hoffman wrote:
> On 2013-02-17 13:23:37 +0000, MG said:
> 
>> Let this be a lesson to anyone foolish enough to think VMS, in its
>> current form and shape, is useful as a serious file server (and thus
>> for any data).  I'm going to be emulating VMS mostly from now on,
>> this whole migration is part of my 'decommissioning' plan for my
>> rx2620.  I don't feel like paying the electricity bills anymore.

I never considered VMS as a "file server".  At least as I understand 
"file server", ie; storing and providing access to files that will be 
used elsewhere.

> Ayup.  OpenVMS is good for folks with existing OpenVMS applications, or 
> a requirement for an OpenVMS application.

VMS has always had a rather robust development environment.

It runs VAX/DEC Basic better than any other system in the world.  :-)

> OpenVMS is not particularly packaged for, nor targeted at home users, 
> nor home offices, nor small businesses.  OpenVMS aims much higher, and 
> more specialized.

I've used VMS for accounting applications, and some order processing. 
These are applications that I developed in the past for medium sized 
companies.  Hey, I know them better than I know any other applications, 
so why not use them?

> For a small site, OpenVMS itself is also quite expensive for a fully- 
> and permanently-licensed configuration.  For a little more than a 
> one-core Itanium license for just OpenVMS I64 itself, some very nice 
> servers — all hardware and software — are available.   There are servers 
> much better suited for typical home and small business uses, too.
> 
> For your plan to move to emulation, getting the networking going is the 
> usual hassle.
> 
> Whether with emulation or with real hardware, OpenVMS is also not a very 
> good client of other file servers.  NFS is the central and arguably the 
> sole choice for that.  There's no SMB/CIFS client available, and no 
> FUSE-style file system client for accessing an FTP or SFTP or WebDAV 
> file server.

Never been an issue for me.  Now I have to get ready for being called 
"different", or worse ....