GG.UUU@ISUMVS.BITNET.UUCP (11/24/87)
Everything you ever wanted to know about the VAXstation 2000
John Hascall
Iowa State University Computation Center
with a lot of help from the net
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Copyright (c) 1987 by Iowa State University
Permission to reproduce all or part of this document (excluding the quotes
at the end [contact the original author]) for noncommercial purposes is
granted, provided: 1) this notice is included, 2) the author and Iowa State
University are given credit. To copy otherwise requires specific
permission.
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Introduction/Disclaimer/Acknowledgements
The following a summary of everything I have learned from a great number
of DEC publications and from many replies to my info-vax query earlier
this month. I have checked everything as carefully as I can for accuracy
but, remember: things change, people make mistakes, and everyone's
situation is different--and remember don't take my word (or anyone else's)
for it--ask DIGITAL.
Please note that I am in no way connected to DEC other than having used
their products extensively over the past 6 or so years. Also, the views
expressed herein a strictly my own or the quoted author's and any
similarity to my employers views is strictly coincidental.
Thanks to all who replied to my initial query without whose answers this
would not be possible.
Pricing
If you are an educational institution you may be able to get a special
pricing arrangement with DIGITAL (we have one here at ISU and the
discounts are attractive [editorial comment: I suspect DEC is going to
cost IBM some PS/2 sales here]).
General Information and Specifications
Standard equipment indicated by ^
Processor
MicroVAX CPU^
FPU^
winchester & floppy controllers^
monochrome video controller^
serial controllers (4 lines)^
Keyboard, Mouse/Tablet, Printer/Plotter, and Communications
ethernet interface^
Memory
4 or 6 Mbytes^
Storage etc.
BA40A-AA Expansion adapter (necessary for BA40B)
BA40B Expansion box (can have 0, 1 or 2*)
RX33 1.2 MB floppy* (half height [cannot go in BA40B])
RD32 44 MB winchester (half height [cannot go in BA40B])
RD53 71 MB winchester
RD54 159 MB winchester
TK50 95 MB streaming tape* (must go in BA40B)
* see "Restrictions"
Monitors
1024 x 864 (78 pixels/inch)
Monochrome 15" & 19"
Color 15" & 19"
4 plane graphics co-processor (for color or grey scale)
performs a range of raster operations in hardware, including:
Fast bit-blt with rotation, fractional scaling and Boolean
operations.
Vector and text drawing.
Hardware clipping, tiling (stippling), and pattern fill.
Smooth scrolling in both vertical and horizontal planes.
Resolves conflicts from the interaction of multiple processes.
Keyboard etc.
LK201 (several nationalities [Ultrix supports only North American])
Mouse or Tablet (must choose 1, can only use 1 at a time)
Operating systems etc
VMS (VWS window system)
ULTRIX (X-Windows)
DECnet (either OS [end node])
TCP/IP (either OS)
Power cords
120V^
240V several nationalities available
Physical
Temperature 60-96F
Humidity 40-80% noncondensing
Altitude 8,000 feet
Power 300 Watts
Size
Item Height Depth Width Weight
System Unit 5.50 11.40 12.75 28 lbs
Expansion Adapter 1.50 11.40 12.75 2
Expansion Box 5.50 11.40 12.75
Color Monitor 19" 18.50 21.50 20.00 80
Mono Monitor 19" 15.40 15.60 17.50 49
Color Monitor 15"
Mono Monitor 15"
Restrictions
In the following discussion unless otherwise indicated, the
requirements for a "standalone system" are also requirements
for at least one node in a LAVc (local area VAXcluster) or
network.
Removable media
A standalone system must include a removable media storage
device (either a RD33 floppy or a TK50 tape) so that software
can be loaded onto the system (and for backups). In an ULTRIX
system a TK50 must be used since ULTRIX is not distributed on
floppys (microVMS is available on either).
Expansion adapter & boxes
A system can include 0, 1, or 2 expansion boxes. If any
expansion boxes are used an expansion adapter is needed (only
1 adapter is needed for 2 boxes).
Storage
A diskless system must be in a LAVc or DECnet system.
The system unit and each expansion box has one full height
space for storage units. The RX33 and RD33 can go only in
the system unit and the TK50 can only go in an expansion box.
You can only have 2 hard drives. You can have at most 1 RX33 and
and at most 1 RD33.
Comments
Reliability
Appears to be quite good with the exception of a few "crib"
failures (covered by the 1 year "basic service warranty".
Performance
The VAXstation 2000 is claimed to have 90% of the CPU power of a
VAX 11/780. This seems to be true, with the following notes:
1) The VS2000 FPU appears to be approximately 2/3rds as fast as
the 11/780 FPA.
2) The disk controller is non-intelligent, so I/O is a little
slower and takes a little more CPU overhead.
3) Graphics is much faster than a uVAX II, but slower than a
GPX (with the co-processor).
4) A system without the graphics processor incurs some CPU
overhead for display operations.
Configuration
Recommendations (recall that I am interested in a standalone
system--the requirements for a diskless member of a LAVc would
for example be quite different).
Memory
6MB - (everyone knows about VMS's memory appetite)
Storage
RD53 or RD54 - (a RD34 [44MB] system will work, but VMS takes
on the order of 30MB itself)
TK50 - (required for ULTRIX systems, makes life (esp backups)
a lot more pleasant)
Monitor etc
graphics co-processor - (without it [a monochrome system] the
CPU has to do the graphics operations
itself, also it makes the change to a
color system at a later date easier)
B&W - (unless you have a particular application which
requires color; the B&W monitor is a lot: cheaper,
smaller, lighter, and easier on the eyes)
Interesting quotes:
"...we are soon to retire a VAX 11/780 and replace it with a
VAXstation....the performance loss is expected to be
negligible..." -- Danny Padwa (Harvard)
"...tried a chemical modeling program that ran for 18 minutes
on an empty 780. It ran within 30 seconds of that time on
the 2000." -- David Straitiff (SUNY Buffalo)
"I have found that money put in to all Micro VAXs is much
better spent than buying an 8XXX machine" -- ???
"The most recent distribution of MicroVMS came on 40
floppies." -- Selden E. Ball, Jr. (Wilson Labs)
"Buy it." -- Ted Crane (Tompkins County Computing)