[Info-vax] When an Alpha becomes junk, was: Re: Apache Plugins for OpenVMS?

[David Froble]

Simon Clubley wrote:
> On 2015-03-15, David Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
>> Neil Rieck wrote:
>>>  
>>> That said, I'm going to download a copy of WASD tomorrow then install it on
>>> one of the junk Alpha's in the back room. I think a good case could be made
>>> for moving to WASD if CSWS stays stuck back in time.
>>>  
>> Just wondering, what determines that an Alpha is "junk" ?
> 
> Probably when it's too old or limited to be put back into production use.
> 
> IOW, it's subjective - one person's junk might be another person's
> productive system.
> 
> Sometimes however, something which was once productive isn't even suitable
> for hobbyist use.

You mean something such as a 6000 series or 8800 series VAX, or maybe a 
GS1280 ?

:-)

> I want to setup a VMS system at home (to keep in touch with VMS) now my
> current job has ended and I'm not even considering the working, but very
> slow by today's standards, Alphastation sat in the corner. Instead, I'm
> going to pick up a low-end x86-64 box, run an Alpha emulator on it and
> basically have that as my "Alpha" box.

I've got some AlphaStation 200 systems, all with bad power supplies. 
I'd use them (maybe one) if they worked, but I'm not looking to spend 
any money on them.

> IOW, that once productive Alphastation box is now "junk" to me... :-)
> 
> After emulation overheads, that x86-64 box probably won't be much faster
> than the Alphastation, but for one thing I'll be able to emulate vastly
> larger memory in the x86-64 box so it's not going to be swapping/paging
> the time like the Alphastation was doing when I last powered it up...
> 
> Simon.
>