dww@stl.stc.co.uk (David Wright) (05/16/87)
We currently have a number of uVAX-II's, and are thinking of adding more.
They are used for simulations, VLSI design etc. (for some of which the
tools are only available on VMS), plus general editing, mail, etc..
Clustering looks a good idea, both in reducing the need for separate large
disks and in reducing the system management time that having lots of separate
machines involves. There should also be availability gains. So I've been
waiting for DEC to offer clustering on the Ethernet for years.
But now they have - should we buy?
DEC have told me the advantages, but are there disadvantages too? DEC have
warned that the Ethernet load would be high, so we'd need a bridge to keep that
off the rest of our net, but what about performance and load on the 'boot
member'? And are there any less obvious problems? We do not want to go
through all the trouble of converting to LAVC then find we have to revert!
Any advice and experiences - good or bad - from those who have already gone
LAVC would be most useful. Thanks.
P.S. Please no more Digests! Yes I know you can sort-of page them in 'rn'
with ^G, but it's a pain to reply to items, or to keep just the bit you want.
And when I see items in a digest titled "Submission to ..." and find that I've
already read them twice in unpackaged form, I really wonder what the disgest
format is supposed to achieve.
--
Regards,
David Wright STL, London Road, Harlow, Essex CM17 9NA, U.K.
dww@stl.stc.co.uk <or> ...seismo!mcvax!ukc!stl!dww <or> PSI%234237100122::DWW