[Info-vax] VMS and the Internet of Things (IoT)

[Simon Clubley]

On 2016-09-11, Kerry Main <kemain.nospam at gmail.com> wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Info-vax [mailto:info-vax-bounces at rbnsn.com] On
>> Behalf Of Simon Clubley via Info-vax
>> Sent: 11-Sep-16 1:56 PM
>> To: info-vax at rbnsn.com
>> Cc: Simon Clubley
>> <clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP>
>> Subject: Re: [Info-vax] VMS and the Internet of Things
>> (IoT)
>> 
>> I'm confused. Are you suggesting that VMS can occupy the
>> middle tier
>> in my 3 tier model and be the OS that runs inside the
>> controller box
>> which is located within the facility itself and which
> talks
>> directly
>> to the sensors ?
>> 
>> If that's the case, I'm curious how much embedded
>> knowledge you have
>> because I am absolutely not seeing VMS as being suitable
>> for that
>> position for these reasons:
>> 
>> 1) It would have to run on ARM for one thing (x86-64 is
> so
>> overpowered
>> by comparison, and with power and hardware space
>> requirements to match,
>> that it would be like using a supercomputer to calculate
>> your payroll),
>> 
>
> You missed my earlier comment in this thread - 
>
> " My references to OpenVMS and IoT were in respect to
> OpenVMS and future architectures - coming (X86-64) and
> potential (ARM). This would be post OpenVMS V9+ (ARM -
> V10?) - after the new file system and new TCPIP stack.
> X86-64 in small boxes/appliances are valid thin "smart"
> clients just as much as lower power ARM devices in even
> smaller thin client "smart" devices are likely. "
>
> [snip..]
>

Having VMS run on ARM is only the first step.

VMS needs to be structured so that you can create a BSP so VMS will
run on your custom hardware and you need the tools to, among other
things, generate custom VMS images for your hardware and application
that you can burn to flash and run VMS and your application from that
same flash.

VMS also needs to _seriously_ up it's game when it comes to low
level stuff such as device driver writing.

Then once you have done all this, you need to ask what advantages
does VMS have over the established embedded players ?

BTW, Kerry, have you ever done any embedded development ?

Have you ever written any code which runs under a RTOS and have you
ever been through the process of generating a custom RTOS image
which includes your code to run on your own hardware ?

Have you ever gone through the process of writing your own BSP
so that you can bring up an RTOS on your own hardware ?

The reason I am asking these questions is not to be difficult but
to try and get you to think about how embedded development is very
different from "big systems" developement.

Whether you realise it or not, you appear to still have a "big
systems" mindset when you are talking about the embedded world.
That mindset doesn't apply to the embedded controller devices that
may make up many of the IoT controllers and indeed those embedded
devices have priorities of their own which don't apply to the "big
systems" world.

Simon.

PS: Please fix your line wrapping. You currently look as if you are
typing on a VIC20. :-)

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Microsoft: Bringing you 1980s technology to a 21st century world