hamm@BIOVAX.RUTGERS.EDU (09/26/87)
Hi Netland -
We have been planning to purchase a VAXstation II/GPX, but waited to see what
the new VAXstation 3xxx's would look like. At first glance, it looks like
it was worth the wait. However, I wonder if anyone out there has had a
closer look and can answer some questions. (Our salesman is the type who
lets *us* read the sales update to try to figure out what's going on -
he's not terribly authoritative.)
Since we are going to buy the workstation to support some specific
3rd-party software, and to interface with an instrument, the first
question is:
1. Are the VAXstation 3200 and 3500 completely software compatible
with the II/GPX? As I recall (never having looked at one of them),
the GPX had some special hardware magic for graphics that the vanilla
VAXstations didn't have. Is this stuff present in the 3xxx's?
In fact, more generally, if someone out there could enlighten us
all with a review of the *functional* differences among the various
VAXstations (I, II, II/GPX, 2000, 3200, 3500 - did I miss any?), I
for one would be very greatful.
The salesman made some noises about the Q-bus being configured completely
differently on the new systems, and therefore many old options apparently
won't work. I wonder what this will mean for extensibility. Specifically,
2. If we get a 3500 with an RA70, can we later buy an expansion cabinet,
add another KDA50, and slap in a couple of, say, RA82's? (I believe
the BA213 cabinet will allow us to add one more RA70.)
The 3500 comes with a "single-user" VMS license, which our salesman claims
really allows 2 users to log in. (So why don't they call it a "2-user"
license??) I need to know if this is true, since we need to have at least
two user processes logged in for our application.
3. How does the limited-user stuff work in VMS? Does the restriction
apply equally to interactive logins (from the Workstation and from async
lines), network logins, and batch jobs, or is there some distinction
made? What about subprocesses/multiple sessions on the workstation?
Can one upgrade to an n-user license?
Finally, when I added together the prices for the 3500 (with 16MB, an RA70,
a TK70, 8 async lines, VMS, etc., etc.) and the "new, reduced" prices for a
II/GPX (with 5MB, an RA70, a TK50, 4 async lines, VMS, etc.), the 3500 comes
out only a few thousand more.
4. How the heck does DEC expect to sell any more GPX's? (What I'm really
asking here is, have I missed some important thing the GPX has that the
3500 doesn't? - i.e., question 1 restated.)
Thanks for the help,
Greg
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Gregory H. Hamm || Phone: (201)932-4864
Director, Molecular Biology Computing Lab ||
Waksman Institute/NJ CABM || BITNET: hamm@biovax
P.O. Box 759, Rutgers University || ARPA: hamm@biovax.rutgers.edu
Piscataway, NJ 08854 * USA ||
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