Version 2 For VMS Software Services

Description: 

Version 2 of connectivity software from VMS Services

Main Article Text

Digital Equipment renews the connectivity characteristics of its package between Vax and personal computers, called VMS Services for MS-DOS while currently providing this as part of the VMS operating system. Version 2 of the product will be available in Italy by the end of summer as a free update for all users of its current version 1 ,running on Vax, while users of personal computers will have to pay about a million lire to get the license to use it (these figures are only indicative and will be finalized at the official announcement of the product). The most significant difference in this new version, compared to the previous release, is in the processing speed, which has increased by 30%. This means that Digital users who want to manage a Dos session in the DecNet environment can now overcome, at least partially, the efficiency limitations imposed by the old VMS Services. The improvement is only partial, since assessments carried out by third parties indicate a transfer speed at the rate of 35,000 bytes per second on a Vax 8530. However, interesting is the fact that Dec (Viale Fulvio Testi 11, 20092 Cinisello Balsamo, tel. 617 961 02) allows, the VMS Services version 2, to make effective use of the Vax as a server for a local area network of personal computers. This was in fact extended to allow the range of personal computers and supported interface cards governed by the new Compaq Deskpro II and Deskpro 286 , IBM PS 2 Model 30 (asynchronous link and DecNet), Ps 2 Model 50 60 and 80 (only connectivity is DecNet). Augmented between the interface cards, the classic Digital Ethernet card depca and those of 3Com EtherLink, are added the Micom-Interlan Ni5010 version 1 and 2 and the 3How Ie2 and IE4. In this way, VMS Services for MS-DOS becomes a potential competitor for network operating systems in general use, such as Novell NetWare. Digital has released the benchmark results of some tests conducted on a local area network with 15 users. According to the figures reported, the network Vax is 15% faster compared to a LAN operating under NetWare version System Fault Tolerant (the comparison of this generic type however will have the foregone assumption that a network server based on a mini has the performance, and cost, superior to those of a server-type At).Also network services have improved overall. The package provides a list of the active connections, open files and network services available. It can also start (bootstrap) a work situation that is free of disk drives. The latest innovation, at the end, has been the entrance of product support for almost all types of Digital printers. In the list of new printers that are compatible, we have PrintServer 40 ,the laser printer that does 40 pages per minute, Lj 250,252 the peripheral jet color ink, the Postscript Ln 03R printer and that the serial dot matrix 210.

Roberto Mazzoni