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Paul Vixie | 25 Mar 2003 01:01

Re: NS638 RAM

> > Also, on all but one of the processors, they'd be paying a speed
> > penalty, and from what I recall a fairly hefty one.
> 
>    Yes...Qbus tops out at 3.3MB/s if memory serves, then there's any
> latency incurred by the arbitration logic on the CPU. :-(

when acting as a memory server between the pmmi and the qbus, a ka630
or ka65* series box operates in block mode (acts like a dma device).
you should be able to get the full 30Mbit/sec out of it.

many of these ideas got completed and extended and used in the later
"firefly" (at dec src) and "firefox" (name of the 3520/3540 product
version of the dec src box).  for example, more than one cpu per pmmi.

a 3540 with full memory, plus a three-board qdss, plus a 2-board qda50,
was a *monster* with ribbon cables up and down the card stack.  noisy!
power hungry, too -- i used one to justify dual 20A breakers per desk
in a new dec office building once upon a time.
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Dave McGuire | 25 Mar 2003 01:06

Re: NS638 RAM

On Monday, March 24, 2003, at 06:44 PM, der Mouse wrote:
> There are only two bits of ID, so at most four processors per Qbus.

   Hmm, bummer. :-(

> I've got some ideas tumbling around about doing New and Different OS
> stuff, and the KA630 is a strong candidate because I believe I really
> understand it right down to this sort of level, which most of my
> machinse I don't.  Two 9M KA630s in a BA123[%] could be a very nice
> machine to play with this sort of stuff on.

   That does sound like lots of fun.

> [%] Do I have the BA numbers right?  I can't find any BAnnn marking on
>     mine....

   Yup, BA123.

       -Dave

--
Dave McGuire             "I've grown hair again, just
St. Petersburg, FL           for the occasion."       -Doc Shipley
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Paul Vixie | 25 Mar 2003 01:07

Re: NS638 RAM

> .. Two 9M KA630s in a BA123[%] could be a very nice
> machine to play with this sort of stuff on.
> 
> [%] Do I have the BA numbers right?  I can't find any BAnnn marking on
>     mine....

the ba123 is a little r2d2-looking box with four casters and i think
14 slots of qbus on the back, and room for four rd53/rd54/tk50's in front.

the ba23 is a 4U box (once you take it out of the plastic clamshell)
with a 7-slot qbus and room for two rd53/rd54/tk50's in front.

the ba213 is more or less a ba123 turned sideways, so that the wide part
has card edges.  the dssi-style drives go in the top, facing the same way
as the card edges.  better power and cooling than the ba213, and better
i/o connectors (they're bolted to the cards, so no separate bulkheads.)

i'm unable to remember the 8U version of the BA23, it was really two
BA23's welded/bolted together, and was the first configuration they were
willing to sell QDA50's into (because of power draw and bulkhead cable
size.)  jamming QDA50's into ba23's was left as an exercise for the sysadmin.
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der Mouse | 25 Mar 2003 01:31
Picon

Re: NS638 RAM

>> ... BA123[%] ...
>> [%] Do I have the BA numbers right?

> the ba123 is a little r2d2-looking box with four casters and i think
> 14 slots of qbus on the back, and room for four rd53/rd54/tk50's in
> front.

> the ba23 is a 4U box (once you take it out of the plastic clamshell)
> with a 7-slot qbus and room for two rd53/rd54/tk50's in front.

> the ba213 is more or less a ba123 turned sideways, so that the wide
> part has card edges.  the dssi-style drives go in the top, facing the
> same way as the card edges.  better power and cooling than the ba213,
> and better i/o connectors (they're bolted to the cards, so no
> separate bulkheads.)

Hm, now I'm not sure *what* I've got.

My VAX-on-wheels cabinets have four drive bays, but inserting a drive
into one involves moving it front-to-back.  Inserting a Qbus card means
moving it right-to-left, as viewed from the front of the machine.  And
I/O connectors are bolted to little "knockout" (actually, "unscrew and
remove blank plate") spaces such that they face the back of the
machine.  There are four spaces of about 2¼ by 3¼ inches (suitable for
a KA630 connector-and-switch panel, or four serial ports on eg a
DHV11), one space about 5 by 3¼ inches with a brace that when installed
divides it into two more 2¼x3¼ spaces, and four narrow slots suitable
for DEQNA AUI-and-fuse panels.

Four Q/CD slots and eight Q/Q slots.  There's a 13th slot that is not
(Continue reading)

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Paul Vixie | 25 Mar 2003 01:58

Re: NS638 RAM

> Hm, now I'm not sure *what* I've got.

that's because i mangled my description.

> My VAX-on-wheels cabinets have four drive bays, but inserting a drive
> into one involves moving it front-to-back.  Inserting a Qbus card means
> moving it right-to-left, as viewed from the front of the machine.

that's a ba123.

> I'm Confused. :-/

i screwed up.

> I have two of them.  The one I can easily check on has a sticker
> showing "Model: DH-630Q4-E2".

"Q4" means BA123 in this context.
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Lord Isildur | 25 Mar 2003 02:23

Re: NS638 RAM

yes, this is a BA123. Aside from the qbus slots being so close together,
this is imho the nicest Qbus enclosure for a vax. 

Isildur

On Mon, 24 Mar 2003, der Mouse wrote:

> >> ... BA123[%] ...
> >> [%] Do I have the BA numbers right?
> 
> > the ba123 is a little r2d2-looking box with four casters and i think
> > 14 slots of qbus on the back, and room for four rd53/rd54/tk50's in
> > front.
> 
> > the ba23 is a 4U box (once you take it out of the plastic clamshell)
> > with a 7-slot qbus and room for two rd53/rd54/tk50's in front.
> 
> > the ba213 is more or less a ba123 turned sideways, so that the wide
> > part has card edges.  the dssi-style drives go in the top, facing the
> > same way as the card edges.  better power and cooling than the ba213,
> > and better i/o connectors (they're bolted to the cards, so no
> > separate bulkheads.)
> 
> Hm, now I'm not sure *what* I've got.
> 
> My VAX-on-wheels cabinets have four drive bays, but inserting a drive
> into one involves moving it front-to-back.  Inserting a Qbus card means
> moving it right-to-left, as viewed from the front of the machine.  And
> I/O connectors are bolted to little "knockout" (actually, "unscrew and
> remove blank plate") spaces such that they face the back of the
(Continue reading)

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Lord Isildur | 25 Mar 2003 02:31

Re: NS638 RAM

some years ago i came across a paper written at CRL around 1988 or so
which described work done on a parallel C compiler that was being developed 
on a multiprocessor KA650 machine... i dont remember what they ran on it, 
though. 

isildur

On Mon, 24 Mar 2003, Dave McGuire wrote:
> 
>    I wonder what the practical limitation would be on the number of 
> KA630s in such a system.    I've been doing a lot of assembler lately, 
> and I have a large number of KA630s and I'm having very sick thoughts. 
> :)
> 
>         -Dave
> 
> --
> Dave McGuire             "I've grown hair again, just
> St. Petersburg, FL           for the occasion."       -Doc Shipley
> 
>
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Gunther Schadow | 25 Mar 2003 02:58
Favicon

VAX 11/750 available in TX (?)

Hi,

I was looking at a vendor site and it looks like they are offering an
DEC 11/750 for $158.76. It's not quite clear, but since I don't have
room for one I cannot simply order it. If you want it for the price,
you can go on their web site to just order it and then call and ask
them that you want to pick it up, that way you can find out what
really they offer here and if it's not a real 11/750 system you can
jump off (but if it is, you have a pretty good price.)

regards,
-Gunther
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Gunther Schadow | 25 Mar 2003 03:00
Favicon

Re: VAX 11/750 available in TX (?)

Oops, it's not in TX, it's in Melbourne, FL and here is the URL

http://www.4cheapparts.com/cgi-bin/checkitout/checkitout.cgi?networkpSTORE:4cPlistCKIE:prod11/750+

minimum QTY is 2. Hmm, very strange :-)

-Gunther

Gunther Schadow wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I was looking at a vendor site and it looks like they are offering an
> DEC 11/750 for $158.76. It's not quite clear, but since I don't have
> room for one I cannot simply order it. If you want it for the price,
> you can go on their web site to just order it and then call and ask
> them that you want to pick it up, that way you can find out what
> really they offer here and if it's not a real 11/750 system you can
> jump off (but if it is, you have a pretty good price.)
> 
> regards,
> -Gunther
>
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Dave McGuire | 25 Mar 2003 03:03

Re: VAX 11/750 available in TX (?)

On Monday, March 24, 2003, at 09:00 PM, Gunther Schadow wrote:
> Oops, it's not in TX, it's in Melbourne, FL and here is the URL
>
> http://www.4cheapparts.com/cgi-bin/checkitout/ 
> checkitout.cgi?networkpSTORE:4cPlistCKIE:prod11/750+
>
> minimum QTY is 2. Hmm, very strange :-)

   Hey, now THAT'S tempting. :-)

       -Dave

--
Dave McGuire             "I've grown hair again, just
St. Petersburg, FL           for the occasion."       -Doc Shipley
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Gmane