[comp.sys.dec] MicroVAXII Upgrade to 3400

youngg@ul.ie (11/16/89)

Has anyone heard of an upgrade for a MicroVAX II to a 3400 that 
involves a CPU and memory board swap to the UVAXII and not a complete
replacement that will be available in the New Year?

Gordon Young,
University of Limerick,
Ireland
YOUNGG@UL.IE

garyf@mehlville.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Gary Faulkner) (11/17/89)

In article <918@ul.ie>, youngg@ul.ie writes:
> Has anyone heard of an upgrade for a MicroVAX II to a 3400 that 
> involves a CPU and memory board swap to the UVAXII and not a complete
> replacement that will be available in the New Year?
> 
> Gordon Young,
> University of Limerick,
> Ireland
> YOUNGG@UL.IE

I would like to here about this also, if anyone has any information!


Gary Faulkner
National Center for Supercomputing Applications - University of Illinois
Internet: garyf@mehlville.ncsa.uiuc.edu
Disclaimer:  I've only stated my opinion, not anyone elses.

alan@shodha.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) (11/17/89)

In article <918@ul.ie>, youngg@ul.ie writes:
> Has anyone heard of an upgrade for a MicroVAX II to a 3400 that 
> involves a CPU and memory board swap to the UVAXII and not a complete
> replacement that will be available in the New Year?

	I haven't heard of it, but there's lots of things I don't
	hear about until after they are publically announced.

	One potential problem with such an upgrade is that the MicroVAX 
	3400 lives in a BA200 style box and most MicroVAX II's live in 
	BA123 or BA23 style boxes.  
> 
> Gordon Young,


-- 
Alan Rollow				alan@nabeth.enet.dec.com

grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (11/17/89)

In article <1989Nov16.220339.19360@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> garyf@mehlville.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Gary Faulkner) writes:
> In article <918@ul.ie>, youngg@ul.ie writes:
> > Has anyone heard of an upgrade for a MicroVAX II to a 3400 that 
> > involves a CPU and memory board swap to the UVAXII and not a complete
> > replacement that will be available in the New Year?
> 
> I would like to here about this also, if anyone has any information!

The trade rags recently mentioned that DEC had finally set up their usual
sort of trade-in program to trade in MV-II's for MV-3000's, but didn't say
Anything about an in-box upgrade.

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,	uucp: {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
but no way officially representing	arpa: cbmvax!grr@uunet.uu.net
Commodore, Engineering Department	fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)

madison@vms.ecs.rpi.edu (Matt Madison) (11/17/89)

In article <8596@cbmvax.UUCP>, grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) writes:
>In article <1989Nov16.220339.19360@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> garyf@mehlville.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Gary Faulkner) writes:
>> In article <918@ul.ie>, youngg@ul.ie writes:
>> > Has anyone heard of an upgrade for a MicroVAX II to a 3400 that 
>> > involves a CPU and memory board swap to the UVAXII and not a complete
>> > replacement that will be available in the New Year?
>> 
>> I would like to here about this also, if anyone has any information!
>
>The trade rags recently mentioned that DEC had finally set up their usual
>sort of trade-in program to trade in MV-II's for MV-3000's, but didn't say
>Anything about an in-box upgrade.

Not true!  The recently announce MicroVAX II-to-MicroVAX 3/3+ upgrades
_are_ in-box upgrades, specifically for BA23, BA123, and H9642 enclosures.
They pull your KA630 CPU and MS630 memory boards and replace them with
either a KA650 (MicroVAX 3500) or KA655 (MicroVAX 3800) CPU and MS650
memory.

A description of the upgrade program is available (and has been for a few
weeks now) on DEC's Electronic Store.
--
Matthew Madison, Systems Programmer  | 
Engineering Computing Services       |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute     |
Troy, New York 12180-3590 USA
   madison@vms.ecs.rpi.edu

don@edison.UUCP (Don Kossman) (11/18/89)

In article <1989Nov16.220339.19360@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> garyf@mehlville.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Gary Faulkner) writes:
>In article <918@ul.ie>, youngg@ul.ie writes:
>> Has anyone heard of an upgrade for a MicroVAX II to a 3400 that 
>> involves a CPU and memory board swap to the UVAXII and not a complete
>> replacement that will be available in the New Year?
>> 
>> Gordon Young,
>
>I would like to here about this also, if anyone has any information!
>
>Gary Faulkner

here is what i've found out; no judgements about these
upgrade should be inferred from what follows:

dec announced on november 1 several upgrade kits which allow you
to convert a mv-II in a BA23 or BA123 chassis (NOT mv-2000's) to
an mv3500/3600 (KA650) or mv3800/3900 (KA655).

the upgrade consists of replacing the cpu and memory, and keeping
all the existing cabinetry/controllers.  the upgrade will change
your operating system license and existing licenses will be terminated.
dec gets to keep your old cpu and memory.

layered software will need to be upgraded to the mv3+, which is
at a reading of 300 (i quote dec here, i don't know what this
means...).

NOTE carefully that you MAY have
to replace or upgrade some controller cards, depending
on their revision levels.  for example, your KDA50 boards must be
>= rev H4 (processor board) and rev B14 (i/o board), your DEQNA must
be >= rev N4, etc etc.  more information is available from DEC CSS sales
support. (who claim that they are SWAMPED, by the way!)

upgrades are available for both ultrix and vms, and pricing ranges
from about 10k$ to 40k$ for a new cpu with 16 megabytes of
memory.  cost depends on number of users licensed as well as
which upgrade you want.  for example, upgrading my H9642 mv-II
with a 16-user license to a 16Mb 3500 was quoted at about 28k$.

contact your friendly DEC salesperson for more details.

-- 
------
don kossman, sei information technology, los angeles
...sun.com!suntzu!seila!don
...uunet!mahendo.jpl.nasa.gov!jplgodo!seila!don

garyf@mehlville.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Gary Faulkner) (11/18/89)

In article <0092DEA3.FB38E080@mdmvs.ecs.rpi.edu>,
madison@vms.ecs.rpi.edu (Matt Madison) writes:

> Not true!  The recently announce MicroVAX II-to-MicroVAX 3/3+ upgrades
> _are_ in-box upgrades, specifically for BA23, BA123, and H9642 enclosures.
> They pull your KA630 CPU and MS630 memory boards and replace them with
> either a KA650 (MicroVAX 3500) or KA655 (MicroVAX 3800) CPU and MS650
> memory.
> 
> A description of the upgrade program is available (and has been for a few
> weeks now) on DEC's Electronic Store.
> --
> Matthew Madison, Systems Programmer  | 
> Engineering Computing Services       |
> Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute     |
> Troy, New York 12180-3590 USA
>    madison@vms.ecs.rpi.edu

So, enlighten me (briefly) about how to access this "Electronic Store"


Gary Faulkner
National Center for Supercomputing Applications - University of Illinois
Internet: garyf@mehlville.ncsa.uiuc.edu
Disclaimer:  I've only stated my opinion, not anyone elses.

elgie@canisius.UUCP (Bill Elgie) (11/18/89)

> In article <918@ul.ie>, youngg@ul.ie writes:
> > Has anyone heard of an upgrade for a MicroVAX II to a 3400 that 
> > involves a CPU and memory board swap to the UVAXII and not a complete
> > replacement that will be available in the New Year?
> 
  This has been formally announced.  There are a number of variations and a wide
  range in pricing that I haven't sorted out yet.  It appears that you have a 
  choice of at least two cpus.

  This ain't cheap.  

  greg pavlov (under borrowed account), fstrf, amherst, ny

michael@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Michael Duebner) (11/19/89)

In article <492@shodha.dec.com> alan@shodha.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) writes:
>In article <918@ul.ie>, youngg@ul.ie writes:
>> Has anyone heard of an upgrade for a MicroVAX II to a 3400 that 
>> involves a CPU and memory board swap to the UVAXII and not a complete
>> replacement that will be available in the New Year?
>
>	I haven't heard of it, but there's lots of things I don't
>	hear about until after they are publically announced.
>
>	One potential problem with such an upgrade is that the MicroVAX 
>	3400 lives in a BA200 style box and most MicroVAX II's live in 
>	BA123 or BA23 style boxes.  
>> 

According to several sources, the replacement of the CPU and memory has been
available for some time.  Its one of the more hush-hush items DEC is keeping
somewhat quiet, however, they are now available through field service.

It is possible to replace the CPU with either the KA-650 or the KA-655 board
along with associated memory.  Nothing else needs to be changed.  I presume
that VMS 5.x is a must for the upgrade, but could not confirm that.

I bet you can get a 'deal' on the boards that are being pulled out of the
3400/3500 units as they are upgraded to the more powerful 3800/3900 line.
Those boards must be going somewhere, I doubt if DEC is simply destroying
them.


Michael Duebner	                UUCP : michael@ddsw1.MCS.COM
Tech Svc, Buffalo Grove, IL             	312/541-6550