[Info-vax] Logging systartup_vms.com progress to operator.log VMS 7.3-2

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2020-10-28 22:44:33 +0000, Dave Froble said:

> When there is flexibility, there is always a cost.

Absolutely. Testing gets more expensive and more involved, as does 
compatibility, and changes are increasingly difficult, too.

> I don't get out much, but, I don't know of any method to have private 
> disks on say, WEENDOZE.  Perhaps such might exist.

I'm not particularly familiar with these details of Microsoft Windows 
or Windows Server volume processing, nor related volume management.

macOS, Linux, and other systems allow full-device encryption. OpenVMS does not.

macOS mounts detected devices at boot, unless configured not to; 
there's volume management.

Apple automatically encrypts the volume contents for internal storage 
on current hardware.

OpenVMS mounts nothing past the system device. Volume management is 
manual. And no full-device encryption, absent features (potentially) 
offered by an external storage controller.

Volume management is another area that gets messy on OpenVMS, 
particularly as the numbers of volumes increase.

> If I wish to mirror (RAID1) a set of disks, doesn't that require some set-up?

Yes.  It does. Having just gone through this sequence, setting up 
RAID-1 on a NAS involves connecting to the web-based interface, 
selecting the disks, and clicking the desired RAID level.

Same for configuring an external RAID array, though that required 
scrounging the vendor's setup tool for the RAID array.

macOS does offer host-based RAID-1, but few folks use that. Older Apple 
systems offered hardware RAID. Both hardware and software RAID can be 
configured via the macOS GUI.

Setting up host-based RAID-1 on OpenVMS is more involved and arguably 
more hazardous, command-line based, and part of which involves editing 
the commands into the startup files.

Setting up add-on hardware RAID can scrounging the proper keyboard and 
running a console-level tool, or scrounging an add-on for whatever 
other hardware RAID is in use. Most of which are just awful to use—and 
I know how the tools work, too.

I find the FC SAN user interface difficult, and I'm familiar with 
it—the folks got it to work, and then seemingly decided "good enough".

> If I want to have backups, don't I need to specify what and how?

With macOS, select the target device, and off it goes. The 
hourly-to-daily-to-longer-term backup scheme is less flexible than some 
might prefer, but trivial to configure and use.

The macOS backup strategy would be sufficient for many (most?) OpenVMS 
configurations. It'll be more backups than some OpenVMS systems are 
currently getting.

> Perhaps I'm out of touch, but, it is my impression that some are 
> comparing "personal", ie; it is what it is, with flexible systems that 
> allow a lot of options.

That's an interesting discussion around user interfaces and designs; 
with what's called progressive disclosure.

OpenVMS throws the whole box of parts and options and pieces at the end 
user, and forces us to figure it out.

e.g. SYSMAN PARAMS

> Systems that just work out of the box are most likely less flexible.

Are there trade-offs here? Absolutely. Dumb defaults and new user traps 
should not be part of that flexibility.

> Systems that allow many options will require some additional work.

And whether that additional work is of benefit, too.

> Not saying that set-up cannot be easier and better, anything can be 
> easier and better.  There is a cost vs benefit consideration.

As always. There's also always a cost-competitive consideration. Other 
vendors are investing in their offerings, as well.


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