[c-nsp] Decnet, LAT, MOP ... anybody?!?

[Tim Franklin]

> I learned the hard way that DEC servers and workstations 
> don't respond well
> to their network links going down. This is especially true of 
> older VAX and
> early Alpha architecture machines. The systems would just 
> crash. I ended up
> putting all the servers on one switch (a 3524) so that I could do
> maintenance on the core switches (6509's) without having to 
> have a VMS guru
> on-hand to get the systems back up. 

Oh yes :(

At least it sounds like you had the luxury of {10,100}BaseT.  My first
development job was at a VAX shop, with a mix of genuine VTs and PCs as
clients.  The building people had come up with a 10Base2 'structured
cabling' concept which meant that there were lots of wallplates all over the
place with two BNC connectors on, all wired together in a big long bus.
(Well, one or two busses per floor, but plenty of wallplates, anyway).  The
ones in use had a long loop to the PC with a T-piece in the middle, the ones
not in use had a tiny loop across the two connectors.

So, the procedure for bringing a new PC live was to get a new long loop /
T-piece ready, then try and whip the old patch off and connect the new one
in before the VAXen realised the bus was broken and collapsed in a gibbering
heap, which was normally a window of a few seconds.  Small fingers and
extreme dexterity with barrel connectors was not in the original job spec ;)

I miss VAXen sometimes.  The hardware and the software were both ruggedly
elegant and infuriating in varying measures.  I don't miss 10Base2 at all.

Enough reminiscing, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Regards,
Tim.

-- 
____________   Tim Franklin                 e: tim at colt.net 
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