[Info-vax] New VSI Community license PAK

[Dave Froble]

On 10/20/2020 1:37 PM, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) wrote:
> In article <rmn6v2$sci$1 at dont-email.me>, Dave Froble
> <davef at tsoft-inc.com> writes:
>
>>> Maybe the EV6 requirement was for the version of Alpha which will
>>> cluster with x86.
>>>
>>
>> That doesn't make any sense.
>>
>> At the level of clustering the individual system architecture should not
>> matter.  Just the capabilities of the software.
>
> I need to come up with a migration path from mixed EV56/EV6 cluster with
> VMS 7.3-2 and 8.4 to VMS auf x86.  It can't be done in one step.

When VMS Cluster is available on x86, it is my understanding that you 
will be able to form a cluster with both HW types.

If the cluster software on x86 is different, and I seem to recall 
reading it will be different, then an Alpha will only be able to form a 
cluster with x86 if the Alpha is running whatever version of VMS that 
VSI would release in the future to allow such a cluster.  That Alpha VMS 
release doesn't exist right now, at least in the wild.

> The basic idea is to build a mixed-architecture cluster with HBVS
> members on nodes of both types, then gradually move to shadowset members
> only on x86 nodes then move to only x86 nodes.

When VSI is ready for this to happen, it should be doable.

> I can't cluster what I have now with x86 VMS.  I at least have to go to
> VSI VMS.  But I'm pretty sure that I have to go to EV6 for that.

Not saying anything definite about this thought, but, right now, as I 
understand it, the source code for VSI Alpha VMS V8.4 2L1 and VSI Alpha 
VMS V8.4 2L2 is exactly the same.  No differences.  2L2 was compiled 
with compiler switches to use EV6 instructions, which I seem to recall 
Clair mentioned that it had a performance increase just in the OS of 
around 15%.  So a version without the EV6 only instructions should run 
on any "supported" Alpha HW.  Not getting into anything like the Multia.

So, I don't have any idea where you got that EV6 only concept ....

>  So
> maybe it's not clustering which requires an architecture, but rather
> clustering (in the special case of mixed versions and mixed
> architectures) requiring a version of VMS which in turn requires some
> minimum hardware version.

VSI is sort of busy, so, I don't see them taking any time to remove any 
support for older HW.

> Even if I could plug my SBB disks into x86, I wouldn't do it, since I
> still need a mixed-architecture cluster to compile and compare before
> switching off the ALPHAs.  (This is similar to how I went from VAX to
> Alpha.)

You're going to want new storage on x86, perhaps SSD, or a mixture of 
SSD and HHD.

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