[Info-vax] VSI OpenVMS Alpha V8.4-2L1 Layered Product Subset Available

[Jan-Erik Soderholm]

Den 2017-07-10 kl. 01:04, skrev clair.grant at vmssoftware.com:
> On Sunday, July 9, 2017 at 4:45:53 PM UTC-4, Jan-Erik Soderholm wrote:
>> Den 2017-07-09 kl. 14:29, skrev Jan-Erik Soderholm:
>>> Den 2017-07-08 kl. 14:03, skrev Jan-Erik Soderholm:
>>>> Den 2017-04-26 kl. 23:31, skrev Jan-Erik Soderholm:
>>>>> Den 2017-04-26 kl. 17:50, skrev Stephen Hoffman:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Haven't seen it posted here yet, and it's not posted on the
>>>>>> VSI web site...
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> VSI have announced the availability of a subset of the layered
>>>>>> products for the VSI OpenVMS Alpha V8.4-2L1 release.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The following products are included:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> ACMS, AvailMan, BASIC, C, C++. COBOL, CXML, DTR, DECdfs,
>>>>>> DECforms, DCPS, DECset, DFO, DCE, DQS, Enterprise Directory
>>>>>> LDAP, FMS. Fortran, I18N, MRU, Pascal, SSM, T4, TDMS
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Licensing changes announced, too.   One VSI ALPHA-SYSTEM PAK
>>>>>> for OpenVMS, one VSI ALPHA-LP PAK for the layered products.
>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Yes, I have been asking VSI for that list. The quote we got in
>>>>> early January refered to some "LP list" but it was not included
>>>>> with the quote.  Now, I was not worried since I had supplied VSI
>>>>> with a list of the used SW on our systems and got an "OK" on
>>>>> that.
>>>>> 
>>>>> We now (today) agreed on to go on the 3-year offer from VSI...
>>>> 
>>>> And last week, finaly, the order was sent to VSI and I have
>>>> received the 6 PAKs, one "ALPHA-SYSTEM" and one "ALPHA-LP" for
>>>> each of the three systems). Now waiting for the details around the
>>>> ISO downloads and planning to have at least our test system
>>>> upgraded during the summer holiday. The customer is closed down
>>>> for the next 4 weeks.
>>>> 
>>>> The delay from April until now is totaly due to internal issues
>>>> at our side, it has nothing to do with VSI.
>>>> 
>>>> In the PAK document (sent as PDFs), apart from the traditional
>>>> table with PAK details, there is also a "LICENSE REGISTER"
>>>> command.
>>>> 
>>>> Jan-Erik.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> (that
>>>>> includes the prods above, and the free x86 migration) for our
>>>>> systems. It was actually cheaper then the offer from HP (MPS w/o
>>>>> SE) with only TCPIP included.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Note also that, besides of the LPs above, other "extras" as
>>>>> Cluster, HBVS, multi-process support and so on are also inluded.
>>>>> So, of needed, we can replace our single CPU DS20e with dual CPU
>>>>> DS25s, using the same PAKs and same cost.
>>>>> 
>>>>> One could always hope that this is a model for the licensing
>>>>> for the upcomming x86-64 version, but we'll see...
>>>>> 
>>>>> I'm also taking for granted that the "VSI ALPHA-SYSTEM" PAK
>>>>> also includes unlimited interactive users, so no "USER" PAKs.
>>>>> 
>>>>> As soon as the deal on the licence/support package can go
>>>>> through, and the availablity/download of the media kit has been
>>>>> sorted out, I might come back with some first impressions from
>>>>> our test system.
>>>>> 
>>>>> B.t.w, when you quote a 5-digit support contract, why add a
>>>>> extra line with "Media Kit for OpenVMS" at $278 when it is
>>>>> stated that it will be an online ISO download? No big deal,
>>>>> but...
>>>>> 
>>>>> Jan-Erik.
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> ISO files downloaded to our VMS test system. One for the OS and two 
>>> for the LP1 and LP2 kits. Looks OK. Can be mounted with LD. The OS 
>>> ISO will be copied to a SAN disk so that it can be booted. Next
>>> task...
>>> 
>>> The download was through a sftp link, b.t.w. Worked just OK.
>>> 
>> 
>> Note (and as the subject of this thread says) that all year it has 
>> been talks about a 8.4-2L1 Alpha version. More or less a recompile of
>> the current 8.4-2L1 for Itanium. I noticed now that what was 
>> downloaded earlier today was ALpha 8.4-2L2. The cover letter (dated 
>> June-2017) says:
>> 
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------- "VMS
>> Software, Inc. (VSI) is pleased to introduce the VSI OpenVMS Alpha
>> Performance Release Version 8.4-2L2 operating system (hereafter 
>> referred to as VSI OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.4-2L2) and associated 
>> layered products. VSI OpenVMS Alpha V8.4-2L2 (a modified release of 
>> VSI OpenVMS Alpha V8.4-2L1) has been optimized to take advantage of 
>> architectural features such as byte and word memory reference
>> instructions, and floating-point improvements, which are available
>> only in AlphaServer EV6 or later processors. This optimized release
>> improves performance by taking advantage of faster hardware-based
>> instructions that were previously emulated in software. NOTE: VSI
>> OpenVMS Alpha V8.4-2L2 will not work on, and is not supported on,
>> AlphaServer pre-EV6 systems." 
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> Our boxes uses EV67, so that is fine for us.
>> 
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------- The
>> "8.4-2L2 New Feat and Rel Notes", in section "3.1.4 Considerations
>> When Building Software to Run on VSI OpenVMS Alpha Versions", also
>> says:
>> 
>> "VSI has created two versions of the VSI OpenVMS Alpha operating
>> system.
>> 
>> • VSI OpenVMS Alpha V8.4-2L1. This is a general purpose VSI OpenVMS
>> Alpha release that runs on all supported HPE AlphaServer platforms
>> regardless of chip architecture.
>> 
>> • VSI OpenVMS Alpha V8.4-2L2. This is a rebuild of the VSI OpenVMS
>> Alpha operating system with compilers that produce specially tuned
>> instructions to take advantage of later features in the Alpha
>> architecture. These can provide a performance benefit for some
>> workloads. This release will only run on, and is only supported on,
>> EV6 and later HPE AlphaServer systems.
>> 
>> If you build software to run on VSI releases of OpenVMS for Alpha
>> systems, you should carefully choose which version of VSI OpenVMS
>> Alpha to use when building your product:
>> 
>> • If you intend to use the product on any VSI OpenVMS Alpha release
>> and all supported target platforms, VSI strongly recommends that you
>> build the software on VSI OpenVMS V8.4-2L1. This will ensure that any
>> precompiled system code that is included within the images will run on
>> all systems, regardless of chip architecture level.
>> 
>> • If you are building tuned code already and only support EV6 or
>> later processors, you may build on either version of the operating
>> system with no issues." 
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> 
>> Still fine for us, but can be useful information for someone else
>> looking at the Alpha offer from VSI...
>> 
>> Regards.
>> 
>> One question... Are those "compilers that produce specially tuned 
>> instructions" the same as compiling with the /ARCH=EV6 switch? Or has 
>> VSI made special versions of the compilers to build VMS itself? Not
>> that it matters much or that I need (or expect) an answer, but
>> anyway... :-)
>> 
>> And a second question... How large parts of VMS has been recompiled in
>> this way and is that a reason to run more tests then otherwise?
> 
> We did not create special versions of the compilers. We just did a build
> with C, MACRO, and BLISS using the architecture-specific switches. This
> was for the entire operating system build, not just selected pieces.
> 

OK, seems reasonable. I'll plan away and we'll see... :-)

Was any particular part where one saw any difference?

I also noticed that 8.2 was excluded from direct upgrade, so
we need two steps for two of our systems, currently at 8.2.
I'm sure there are good reasons behind that, no problem...