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From: HALLAM@vax1.physics.oxford.ac.uk ("Phillip M. Hallam-Baker")
Newsgroups: comp.sys.transputer
Subject: RE: Iserver
Message-ID: <21696.9105221006@prg.oxford.ac.uk>
Date: 22 May 91 11:08:00 GMT
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Paul Casteels (casteels@phs.uia.ac.be)
writes :-
 Does there exist a port of Iserver for DECStations that are connected
via a SCSI interface to a transputer network ?

There are three bits you need.

1 A SCSI TRAM *Which allows you to boot and analyse under SCSI host control*
2 A SCSI device driver
3 The Iserver source

Item 3 is easy. Inmos supply this with the toolset.

Item 2 is probably there. I don't Know about the DECstation. But DEC certainly
	supply a SCSI class driver under VMS - in source form. If not try
	to hassle DEC - they must have a source somewhere and letting you
	borrow it will help them sell DECstations.

Item 1 is unclear. Some SCSIs do some don't some are vague. Most appear to
	be designed with disk serving in mind. Noone seems to have thought of
	using them as an interface.

All in all if someone could sort this one I am sure there is a big market. If
you have a DEC workstation SCSI is the only bus you get. I suspect this is true
for a lot of vendors. AND you get a disk interface into the bargain (SCSI
allows two hosts) AND you are vendor independent.

At the moment we are connecting to VAX via Caplins ludicrously overpriced QT0
board (there is a new version the HIQ which is also silly priced) This means
paying $10,000 over the odds on the host to get the Q-bus. Inmos have been
rumbling about a TCP/IP interface board which sounds as if it will be good
when it arrives but will be similarly overpriced.

Phill Hallam-Baker