sdowdy@ariel.unm.edu (Stephen Dowdy) (02/15/90)
In article <6279.25d948ef@pbs.uucp> sdroppers@pbs.uucp (Seton Droppers) writes: )In article <6098.25cd391d@pbs.uucp>, sdroppers@pbs.uucp (Seton Droppers) writes: )A comment was made that Q-Bus machines should change from DEQNA to DELQA )ethernet cards on Q-Bus machines as needed. This was echoed by personal talks I )had with both a VMS developer and Educational Specialist -- They both said )"Change those boards as *soon* as you can!". There is an upgrade path available. It is $660 (vs ~$4k). Please contact your DEC Sales Rep. It is available through Module Mailer Only, out of the Customer Return Center. (don't contact me, though, that's what your Sales Rep is for) This deal is valid from Jan 15, 1990 - Jan 15, 1991, and you need to return your DEQNA within 60 days of receipt of your DELQA. If you are a contract customer, installation is ~$100, otherwise ~$350. Apparently, i am one of the first to order this, as the guy i spoke with on the phone assumed i was an internal DEC employee. Make sure they know you are EXTERNAL, since turnaround is 5 days, vs 120 days for internal customers. I have received my DELQA, and just need to get it installed. It *IS* the long awaited Upgrade path as it is mentioned in the VMSMail notice sent to tech Sales Reps. --stephen sdowdy@juris.unm.edu (Internet) sdowdy@unmb (Bitnet)
envbvs@epb2.lbl.gov (Brian V. Smith) (02/16/90)
In article <1634@ariel.unm.edu>, sdowdy@ariel.unm.edu (Stephen Dowdy) writes: > In article <6279.25d948ef@pbs.uucp> sdroppers@pbs.uucp (Seton Droppers) writes: > )A comment was made that Q-Bus machines should change from DEQNA to DELQA > )ethernet cards on Q-Bus machines as needed. This was echoed by personal talks I > )had with both a VMS developer and Educational Specialist -- They both said > )"Change those boards as *soon* as you can!". > > There is an upgrade path available. It is $660 (vs ~$4k). Please contact > your DEC Sales Rep. It is available through Module Mailer Only, out of the > Customer Return Center. (don't contact me, though, that's what your Sales > Rep is for) > What exactly does the DELQA "fix" or give you that the DEQNA doesn't have? We are running Ultrix on our Vaxstation II's and wonder if we need to upgrade to the DELQA. I know that the DEQNA has never been a fast controller; does the DELQA basically give faster performance or are there problems that it fixes as well? _____________________________________ Brian V. Smith (bvsmith@lbl.gov) Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory I don't speak for LBL, these non-opinions are all mine.
sdroppers@pbs.uucp (Seton Droppers) (02/16/90)
In article <4864@helios.ee.lbl.gov>, envbvs@epb2.lbl.gov (Brian V. Smith) writes: > In article <1634@ariel.unm.edu>, sdowdy@ariel.unm.edu (Stephen Dowdy) writes: >> In article <6279.25d948ef@pbs.uucp> sdroppers@pbs.uucp (Seton > Droppers) writes: >> )A comment was made that Q-Bus machines should change from DEQNA to DELQA >> )ethernet cards on Q-Bus machines as needed. This was echoed by > personal talks I >> )had with both a VMS developer and Educational Specialist -- They both said >> )"Change those boards as *soon* as you can!". >> >> There is an upgrade path available. It is $660 (vs ~$4k). Please contact >> your DEC Sales Rep. It is available through Module Mailer Only, out of the >> Customer Return Center. (don't contact me, though, that's what your Sales >> Rep is for) >> > > What exactly does the DELQA "fix" or give you that the DEQNA doesn't have? > We are running Ultrix on our Vaxstation II's and wonder if we need to upgrade > to the DELQA. I know that the DEQNA has never been a fast controller; does > the DELQA basically give faster performance or are there problems that it fixes > as well? > > _____________________________________ > Brian V. Smith (bvsmith@lbl.gov) > Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory > I don't speak for LBL, these non-opinions are all mine. It is my uderstanding that the DELQA is supports the "real" ethernet formats (802.??, am I correct?) while the DEQNA only supports the formats used by DEC in the original DECnet and LAT releases. My further understanding is that this is because the DEQNA cannot be made to handle packets fast enough, the firmware in it is simply too primitive. As an update for our site I was talking with one of our programmers that had just built an application using DECnet file transfers to a MicroVAX II with a DEQNA and they needed to build in lots of extra stuff to handle files that did not get transfered because of link problems. I have been told by others this is a symptom of the DEQNA problems. Other conversations that I have had indicate that the DELQA has abilities that the DEQNA just does not have (no specifics have been given), and that DECnet will be using these new abilities "real soon now". -- Seton Droppers -- "Anything that I say is my opinion and not my employer's." Public Broadcasting Service, 1320 Braddock Pl. Alexandria, VA 22314 (UUCP: ...{vrdxhq,csed-1,ida.org}!pbs!sdroppers) (Voice: 703/739-5100) (VAX/VMS running DECUS UUCP 1.1, ANU News 5.9C)
wyatt@cfa.HARVARD.EDU (Bill Wyatt) (02/16/90)
>> What exactly does the DELQA "fix" or give you that the DEQNA doesn't have? [...] >> to the DELQA. I know that the DEQNA has never been a fast controller; does >> the DELQA basically give faster performance or are there problems that it fixes >> as well? > The DELQA supports IEEE 802.3, the DEQNA doesn't. Phase-V DECnet > is going to require 802.3 support from the ethernet controller (at least > for VMS; I don't know about Ultrix). > Also, DEQNAs (older, out of rev ones, anyway) require that PEDRIVER > checksumming be enabled for LAVc's. This puts more overhead on all the > CPUs in the cluster. [Naturally, this doesn't matter to Ultrix sites.] My understanding (from a knowledgeable person in DEC) is that the DEQNA isn't all that slow; it got that reputation from poor initial driver implementations, plus that infamous FCO early on. In fact, the uVax II cannot feed it at the speed it is capable of. However, that's not to say the DELQA isn't a better board, and implements functions that would be much slower on future systems (as mentioned above). Apparently the DELQA won't necessarily be faster for uVax II's running current software. Bill Wyatt, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (Cambridge, MA, USA) UUCP : {husc6,cmcl2,mit-eddie}!harvard!cfa!wyatt Internet: wyatt@cfa.harvard.edu SPAN: cfa::wyatt BITNET: wyatt@cfa Bill Wyatt, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (Cambridge, MA, USA) UUCP : {husc6,cmcl2,mit-eddie}!harvard!cfa!wyatt Internet: wyatt@cfa.harvard.edu SPAN: cfa::wyatt BITNET: wyatt@cfa