VAX 11/725

[Fred N. van Kempen]

On Mon, 6 Dec 2004, Ethan Dicks wrote:

> On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 11:57:30 -0500, Heinz Wolter <h.wolter at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> > 20 tapes?
> > not so bad if loading from a pc emulated tu56 ;)
> > loading VMS must have been a bear as well..
> > what are other options if there is no ethernet?
> > slip/ppp? - once a basic system is loaded?
>
> If you mean BSD, I'd expect SLIP or PPP... the 11/725 _should_ have a
> DMF-32 combo I/O card - 8 serial ports, 1 sync serial (for DDCMP,
> etc.), one parallel that can be used to drive a line printer.
I actually wrote a driver that did IP-over-DDMCP on the VAX end,
with a modified IOS running at the other end, on a Cisco 2501.
Dont ask where I got that source ;-)

Still.. because the sync framing was done by the DDMCP chip on
the board, it was fairly fast- MUCH faster than SLIP or PPP would
be.

> As for VMS... the connectivity options on older versions of VMS are
> more limited.  We used to use that sync port and a DECnet end-node
> license key to hook it to a similar port on that 11/750 mentioned
> above.  It needs a sync modem eliminator in between (the modem
> generates the clocking, not either end), and it's not quick, but you
> can set up DECnet to move mail and copy files and log in remotely.
> Ethernet is a possibility, of course, presuming you have a DEUNA or
> DELUA.
This is why I usually grab all the sync modems I can lay my hands on;
fun for playing, and allows for totally awed viewers :)

--f