Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!uw-beaver!apollo!ced From: ced@apollo.hp.com (Carl Davidson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo Subject: Re: ADUS SysAdmin summary? (700 series & ATR) Message-ID: <1991Jun6.143646.3389@apollo.hp.com> Date: 6 Jun 91 14:36:46 GMT References: <9105310352.AA03763@icaen.uiowa.edu> Sender: netnews@apollo.hp.com (USENET posting account) Reply-To: ced@apollo.hp.com Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Apollo Division - Chelmsford, MA Lines: 122 Originator: ced@ferrari Nntp-Posting-Host: ferrari.ch.apollo.hp.com Good morning (at least it's morning here), I've been following the thread summarized by David Funk's recent posting (enclosed in part below) and have permission from HP Marketing to respond, so here goes. I've excerpted David's posting and deleted some text but I haven't modified any of David's text. From article <9105310352.AA03763@icaen.uiowa.edu>, by dbfunk@ICAEN.UIOWA.EDU (David B Funk): > > Ok folks, rumor control time. ATR is not an option on the 700 series > WHEN RUNNING HP-UX. HP-UX has no idea how to talk to any kind of token > ring board. > However ATR -IS- an option for the 700 series under OSF. HP/Apollo > has said time & again that they -are- going to support OSF on ATR; > even to the extent of running both Domain/OS & OSF machines on the > same net. The 700 series hardware can run an ATR, it is just a matter > of the OS software drivers. > Everything David says here is absolutely correct. No "ifs", "ands", or "buts". It is important to note, however, that supporting ATR is NOT, I repeat NOT, equivalent to supporting the Domain file system OR the full suite of Domain network management tools on OSF nodes. This we are NOT doing. *********************************************************************** *********************************************************************** THE ONLY PROTOCOL WE WILL SUPPORT OVER ATR is IP. *********************************************************************** *********************************************************************** HP/OSF1 will treat ATR as "just another link". It will offer the same set of services over ATR that it offers over the built-in Ethernet controller (which, by the way, is an Intel 82596). If you have both the Ethernet and the ATR interfaces up, your HP/OSF1 node will route IP packets between the two networks but it will NOT route DDS packets. In order to facilitate interoperation with Domain nodes on ATR (why else would you want ATR on a Snake, right?), we are using the Domain Distributed Services (DDS) packet header as our frame header. This allows me to use the "r" commands, telnet, ftp, ping, and NFS between the Snake on my desk and any Domain/OS node on the same ATR or accessible through the IP Internet without any change to the Domain nodes' software. Of course, Snakes on ATR can also talk to other Snakes on ATR. In order to maintain the integrity of the ring, HP/OSF1 ATR will respond to "lcnode" (asknode_$who) packets and regenerate the request in order to allow the Domain/OS node performing the lcnode to wee the entire ring. If HP/OSF1 didn't do this, the lcnode output would stop at the node immediately "upstream" from the first Snake in the ring. We will also respond to the "bldt" command to the extent that a "bldt Net.Node_ID" done to an HP/OSF1 node from a Domain/OS node will return the string elicited by the OSF command "uname -a". We are doing this to allow people to figure out why a node shows up on an "lcnode", but can't be catalogued or otherwise accessed with Domain services. > > All the 700 series machines can take at least 1 EISA bus card. > The 750 has a cage with 4 EISA slots, the 730 has 1 standard EISA slot, > and the 720 has one optional EISA slot. > Again, all true. > > On the 720 it is down by > the power supply and if you don't order the optional adapter for it, > then it is hidden by a cover plate. > I think what David means is that if you don't order the optional adapter, then the space it would have taken up is covered by a blank plate. If so, then he is correct. > > Given that HP/Apollo already has a source of ISA bus ATR boards > I doubt that they need to go to somebody else for them. Maybe they are > looking for a new source of IBM token ring boards (16 megabit maybe?). > The board we are using is the latest revision of the board that is used with the DPCI/Ring product. It will get the node ID from a prom on the ATR board (if you have a 750, you can have two boards, in which case you'll have two proms) and will not have a boot prom installed (what good would it do). > > We are ordering ATR with our 750 ;). Our salesman did not have the > part number for it in his current catalog but he assures us he will find it, > even if he has to call Chelmsford. (no we are not buying it to run HP-UX ;). > > Thanks for your vote of confidence. I hope this clears up any remaining questions about ATR support on HP/OSF1 and Snakes. If there are any lingering questions, it would probably be best to send me e-mail rather than post them. Sometimes I don't have an opportunity to read news for a few days and your message could expire before I see it. I'll post responses to mail I receive to comp.sys.apollo as appropriate. I suppose this would be the place to say that even though I have permission from HP Marketing to post this I am not an official spokesman for HP and therefore if what I have written conflicts with some official policy or announcement either now or in the future, then, of course, the official policy or announcement is the one to believe. On the other hand, you can have a fairly high degree of confidence that the above is correct, since I'm the one writing the code and I currently have it running on my Snake here in Chelmsford. Best regards, -- Carl Davidson (508) 256-6600 x4361 | "What is the Existential The Apollo Systems Divison of | Vaccuum and does it come The Hewlett-Packard Company | with attachments?" DOMAIN: ced@apollo.HP.COM |