[Info-vax] VMS First-Boot on x86 Contest

[DaveFroble]

Bob Gezelter wrote:
> Kerry,
> 
> LD type containers, fine (when I mentioned DVD, I was actually referring to ISO images, I too rarely pull out the DVD anymore, preferring to load it somewhere on a drive with free space).
> 
> However, this collection of infrequently used (*&^* should NOT be on the system drive.
> 
> Drives may have gotten larger, but filling the system drive with a pile of read-only, infrequently used bulk material is a poor idea for several reasons including:
> 
> - replication is not needed, access over the network is fine; and
> - in a fast provisioning VM world, such common supporting material is dead weight when provisioning VMs and operating.
> - Updating the kit images over time is a constant time chore (even with provisioning tools, it does not scale well and is a resource waste).
> - This material becomes a significant part of backup (and restore volume).
> 
> Yes, storage is cheap. But to paraphrase the late Senator Dirksen, "A gigabyte here, a gigabyte there ...". Consider what happens when one is using tools to create a large number of virtual OpenVMS instances on a service such as AWS. Does one really want a multi-gigabyte collection of stuff for each instance? It adds up and increases ones monthly invoice (OPEX). Backing up the system disks becomes commensurately larger. A poor bargain. Much better to have a separate read-only disk that is shareable among all of the instances.
> 
> Small system disks scale far better than large ones. We should be looking at minimizing what is on a system disk to improve the economies of scaling on services such as AWS.
> 
> - Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

I'm sort of with Bob on this.  Not that I have a problem with everything in a 
VMS distribution being available.  I believe that there should be a place for 
everything, and not have things all mixed together.

I'd prefer to have the base OS in one location, and have separate locations for 
the other things.  For example, a web server could be a separate container.

Grouping things in such a manner would allow both concepts to co-exist.  For 
those wanting everything, fine, and for those wanting just what they use, such 
would already be there, whether the actual containers were left on the system 
disk, or other disks, or not.

A simple configuration tool could make customization easy.

-- 
David Froble                       Tel: 724-529-0450
Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc.      E-Mail: davef at tsoft-inc.com
DFE Ultralights, Inc.
170 Grimplin Road
Vanderbilt, PA  15486