[Info-vax] VSI and Process Software announcement

[Kerry Main]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Info-vax [mailto:info-vax-bounces at rbnsn.com] On Behalf
> Of Stephen Hoffman via Info-vax
> Sent: 24-Sep-16 9:50 AM
> To: info-vax at rbnsn.com
> Cc: Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid>
> Subject: Re: [Info-vax] VSI and Process Software announcement
> 
> On 2016-09-24 02:37:42 +0000, David Froble said:
> 
> > I don't use DHCP ....
> >
> > Not saying it cannot be useful for some people ....
> 
> DHCP Is useful — and ubiquitous — for IPv4 clients and mobile
> devices, and for cases when you're just getting a server going and
> need to
> connect into and configure it.   Particularly unattended or remote
> servers, and that's something becoming increasingly common.
> Not all
> systems have or can have a remotely-accessible and properly-
> configured iLO, after all.
> 
> Between dynamic DNS, mDNS and other such tools, it's becoming
> increasingly common to not even need to know the IPv4 address
> — and nobody wants to type the IPv6 address — of the target
> system.  Not all network services can or do correctly deal with IP
> address changes, but we're headed that way, too.
> 
> The less I need somebody on-site to know and do and deal with
> — and connected to the console port or whatever — when
> working on an OpenVMS installation or troubleshooting, the
> better things work out.
> 

Most customers on all platforms are adopting "lights out" DC environments and have been moving in that direction for the last 15+ years. That is all part of the massive server consolidation projects that have been so widely adopted.

Hence, remote AND secure multi-platform console management strategies is an IT best practice that should be in place for all med-large shops. 

Examples include such as those from TDI ConsoleWorks (has hobbyist program btw)
https://www.tditechnologies.com/products/consoleworks-server

> Having a new server boot to USB stick — DVD drives are failure-
> prone, and are becoming less common, and don't and won't exist
> in some environments — or from local network boot services
> such as InfoServer or otherwise, and having the OpenVMS
> installation environment support DHCP networking and mDNS
> would be really nice, for instance.  (Yes, there are boot-time
> security implications, of course.)
> 

If you are talking about new OpenVMS installs on SMB sites, then yes, you are correct. I would also mention that every relatively modern server I have seen has a local DVD, but that could change in the future.

A more established OpenVMS site with config standards would either:
1. - conversational boot from a different root on the local common cluster system disk. Then make minor system specific changes and reboot or-
2. - local boot via DVD, then restore a backup to the target disk with a previously built gold system image with all local customizations embedded. Then, do conversational boot, make system specific changes and reboot. The gold image might even be a LD container for quicker fixes in the gold image.

Multinet supports IPV6 (including IPsec) and DHCP4, so both are likely part of the new VSI stack. See points 1 and 2 for new installs. 

Note - With DHCP enabled on the various server LAN interfaces in the gold / LD image (usually with long TTL values), the number of steps required for each OS config is reduced. In larger sites, each OS may have 4 or more different LAN interfaces and each would have a different subnet address (e.g. PROD, CLUS, BACKUP, MGMT)

Larger sites will also be adopting IPAM (IP address mgmt.) solutions, but that is a different discussion. As example:
http://www.solarwinds.com/ip-address-manager/

Regards,

Kerry Main
Kerry dot main at starkgaming dot com