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Welcome to the third issue of the OpenVMS Technical Journal (VTJ). January 2004 is our one year anniversary and we have published two OpenVMS Technical Journals in that time. To date we have had
over 54,000 views of the journal.
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This issue has ten articles that I am sure you will find interesting. In particular we have a great article from a customer in Italy, the TCP/IP and T4 articles are exceptional. We are already
looking to the future and are planning for another issue in June 2004, with articles by engineering and some of our partners and customers.
Your feedback is essential to the growth and development of this journal, please take a moment,
we want to hear what you have to say.
Sincere thanks go not only to all the excellent authors but to the team that allow us to produce this journal. We have a new leader from the Documentation group, Mike Meagher and along with writers
Carolyn Crowell, Pat Nelson, Suzy Kane, Kathy Haramundanis, Phil Milgrom, Sara Massella, Mary Marotta and Merle Roesler are responsible for editing and final art of each one of the articles and of
course Warren Sander, our OpenVMS Web Master without his extensive work and knowledge we would not be able to deliver this journal.
Warm Regards,
Sue Skonetski
Editor
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OpenVMS Engineering written articles |
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- Programming with TCP/IP for OpenVMS Best Practices [ » Abstract , » HTML , » PDF ]
- TimeLine-Driven Collaboration with T4 & Friends:
A Time-saving Approach to OpenVMS Performance.
[ » Abstract , » HTML , » PDF ]
- Cluster Test Manager (CTM)
[ » Abstract , » HTML , » PDF ]
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Customer written articles |
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- DIGITAL Signature in Automatic e-mail Processing: a Case Study
[ » Abstract , » HTML , » PDF ]
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Partner written articles |
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- Native 64-bit Virtual Addressing for Oracle Rdb Row Caches
[ » Abstract , » HTML , » PDF ]
- Inheritance Based Environments in OpenVMS Systems and VMSClusters
[ » Abstract , » HTML , » PDF ]
- VAX Emulator on HP's Marvel AlphaServers Extends Life of Legacy DEC Systems
[ » Abstract , » HTML , » PDF ]
- Structured Programming in Macro-32
[ » Abstract , » HTML , » PDF ]
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From the HP Customer Call Center |
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Best of Ask the Wizard |
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Article Title: [ » HTML , » PDF ] Programming with TCP/IP for OpenVMS – Best Practices
Author name: Matt Muggeridge
Article Abstract: TCP/IP APIs are at the heart of interprocess communication (IPC) across
small scale networks, such as a LAN, to very large scale networks, such as the Internet. Despite
the well-documented APIs, there are many complexities and pitfalls when designing and
implementing a TCP/IP application. By following the best practices outlined in this document, the
TCP/IP programmer can be confident their application is robust in complex multihomed
environments, is future proof by using new APIs that seamlessly support both IPv6 and IPv4,
scales to high volume connections, and more.
The relationship between TCP/IP API calls and the protocol data is explained along with the
impact of system configurable variables used for tuning and management. Specific algorithms for
TCP and UDP applications are described. Many small code snippets are provided as examples
that covers: establishing local context, connection establishment, data transfer, and connection
teardown. Synchronous and asynchronous mechanisms are contrasted and many hints are
provided to help the intermediate TCP/IP programmer.
Author Bio: Matt Muggeridge holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Computer Systems, from the
University of Queensland, and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physics, from Queensland
University of Technology. Matt has experience with enterprise scale systems and computer
networks, having started with Digital Equipment Corporation in 1990. Matt worked in Compaq
U.S.A. with the OpenVMS organization for 4 years, where he was project manager for the DII
COE initiative, project leader of TCP/IP engineering, and project
leader for WAN engineering. Engineering experience includes: TCP/IP, X.25, LAPB, HDLC,
ISDN, ATM, Frame Relay, and Synchronous device drivers. He is currently a member of the
TCP/IP for OpenVMS engineering team working on various TCP/IP network performance and
analysis projects and is especially interested in high availability networking solutions for
OpenVMS.
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Article Title: [ » HTML , » PDF ]
Cluster Test Manager (CTM)
Author name: Richard Stammers
Article Abstract: OpenVMS is renowned for its reliability and the importance of thorough testing
in achieving this reliability cannot be overstated. Routine test runs may involve more than 3,500
diverse test processes and require clusters with over 30 nodes
and 600 or more storage spindles. Providing the means to efficiently and effectively conduct this
testing poses some interesting and challenging design problems.
CTM (Cluster Test Manager) is one of the primary test tools that are used internally for testing
OpenVMS. This paper will explore the requirements for managing such a large on-going testing
effort, and discuss the design and inner workings of CTM in
some detail. It's the first in a series of papers. One of the most fundamental aspects of the design
of CTM is the separation of the software that runs and manages the tests (CTM) from the actual
tests themselves (CTM test modules). This first paper will
mainly talk about CTM and the management of the tests. Later papers will discuss the individual
CTM Test Modules in more detail.
Author Bio: Richard Stammers is a Software Engineer who works in the Quality Test Verification
(QTV) group of OpenVMS Engineering. Richard has over 30 years of experience in the computer
industry, having worked as an independent consultant on a wide variety of projects prior to his
joining HP in 2001 where he now develops and maintains test software for OpenVMS.
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Article Title: [ » HTML , » PDF ]
DIGITAL Signature in Automatic e-mail Processing: a Case Study
Author names: Francesco Gennai, Marina Buzzi, Giovanni Vischio
Article Abstract: Today many services can be requested via network by sending an electronic message to the service provider. If the data is coded in syntax "understandable" to computers, it is
possible to automate its interpretation, elaboration and storage, thus speeding up data processing and reducing human error. Digital signature can be associated with Internet messages in order to
guarantee sender authentication, message integrity and non-repudiation of origin. The verification process of incoming digitally-signed messages is usually performed by the e-mail client, on behalf
of the end-user. However, if digital signature is applied to data subjected to automatic elaboration, in order to maintain the abovementioned benefits it may be convenient to automate the
verification process as well. Our idea is to implement the verification process in the e-mail server rather than the client. In this paper we describe our experience designing and implementing
software to automate the verification of digitally-signed messages and web forms in order to simplify the registration of Internet domains under the .IT Top Level Domain.
Author Bio: Francesco Gennai has worked for the Italian National Research Council (CNR) since 1984. He is responsible for network systems and Internet services at the CNR Institute of Information Science and
Technologies "A. Faedo" (ISTI, http://www.isti.cnr.it/). An expert network designer, over the years he has been involved in national and international computer network projects including developing
countries such as Albania (he is the technical contact for the TLD .AL), Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt. He is a member of the Italian Research Network (GARR) security group and is a consultant for
academic, public and private institutions throughout Italy.
Author Bio: Marina Buzzi has worked for the Italian National Research Council (CNR) since 1996. She is member of the "Internet networks" research department of the CNR Institute for Informatics and Telematics
(IIT, http://www.iit.cnr.it). Her technical skills include the design and administration of network services and the study of web technologies (caching and crawling). She gives lectures in national
and international conferences.
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Article Title: [ » HTML , » PDF ]
Native 64-bit Virtual Addressing for Oracle Rdb Row Caches
Author name: Norman J. Lastovica, Jr, Principal Engineer Oracle Corporation
Article Abstract: Oracle Rdb Release 7.1.2 introduces two significant enhancements to the Row
Cache feature: Snapshots in Row Cache and Native 64-bit addressing support for Row Cache.
These features can be used separately or combined to provide additional database performance
by further avoiding disk I/O and locking operations and by permitting much more data to be easily
cached in memory.
Using the snapshots in row cache feature allows existing applications to approach zero disk I/O
operations per transaction by reading and updating database rows entirely within memory while
using Rdb's after-image journal to provide transaction persistence in case of process, disk or
system failure. Native 64-bit addressing support for row caches permits a vast number of
database rows to be cached, limited only by the amount of physical memory available in the
computer.
This paper provides an introduction to the Native 64-bit addressing support for Row Cache
enhancement in Oracle Rdb Release 7.1.2. Additionally, the results of large system performance
and capability tests are described.
Author Bio: Norman J. Lastovica is a Principal Engineer within Oracle Rdb Engineering located
in Nashua, New Hampshire. Mr. Lastovica is currently a member of the KODA team and shares
responsibility for the physical data storage, index, journaling, recovery, row cache, hot standby,
and LogMiner components of the Rdb engine.
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Article Title: [ » HTML , » PDF ]
Inheritance Based Environments in OpenVMS Systems and VMSClusters
Author name: Robert Gezelter Software Consultant
Article Abstract: Applications must operate across a wide range of physical computing. The goal
of standalone or clustered configurations is to present the user, and application, with a consistent
operating environment regardless of the physical technologies actually used to implement that
environment.
Many OpenVMS Cluster systems include a multitude of different processors, each with different
peripheral configurations and capabilities. Many organizations also have multiple standalone
OpenVMS systems running identical or nearly identical applications on different hardware
configurations. Disaster tolerant (DT) configurations can further complicate the environment by
introducing propagation delay and other consequences of physical differences into the
environment.
OpenVMS clustering technology was introduced before the popularization of object-oriented
terminology and the codification of its concepts. However, object-oriented concepts, particularly
inheritance, well describe OpenVMS in clustered environments. Principles of inheritance are
particularly apt when implementing functionally identical environments upon different physical
environments. Architectures employing inheritance realize significant reductions in total cost of
ownership (TCO) and correspondingly large improvements in portability and operational
transparency.
In contrast with many other operating systems, the iterative nature of the OpenVMS logical name
facility enables the use of multiple levels of translation with corresponding default values for each
level. This flexibility permits OpenVMS systems to assimilate dramatic changes in operating
environment with a change to a single logical name at a variety of levels, dramatically reducing
TCO.
Author Bio: Robert Gezelter, CDP, CSA, CSE, Software Consultant, guest lecturer and technical
facilitator has more than 25 years of international consulting experience in private and public
sectors. He has worked with OpenVMS since the initial release of VMS in 1978, and with
OpenVMS Cluster systems since their announcement in 1982.
Mr. Gezelter received his BA and MS degrees in Computer Science from New York University.
He also holds the HP CSA and CSE accreditations relating to OpenVMS.
Mr. Gezelter is a regular guest speaker at technical conferences worldwide such as HPETS
(formerly DECUS). His articles have appeared in Network World, Open Systems Today, Digital
Systems Journal, Digital News, and Hardcopy. He is also a contributor to the Computer Security
Handbook, 4th Edition, Wiley, 2002. Many of his publications and speeches are available through
his firm's www site at http://www.rlgsc.com.
His firm's consulting practice emphasizes in-depth technical expertise in computer architectures,
operating systems, networks, security, APIs, and related matters.
His clients range from the Fortune 10 to small businesses, locally, nationally, and internationally
on matters spanning the range from individual questions to major projects.
He can be reached at gezelter@rlgsc.com.
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Article Title: [ » HTML , » PDF ]
VAX Emulator on HP's Marvel AlphaServers Extends Life of Legacy DEC Systems
Author name: Rob Lyons
Article Abstract: This white paper describes the results of testing performed with GS1280
AlphaServers and Charon-VAX/AXP Plus Emulator. The results show that the combined
strengths of these products permit server consolidation and single-platform clusters while
providing enhanced performance in one Alpha footprint.
The testing demonstrates that a 16-way GS1280 running CHARON-VAX/AXP Plus delivers over
400 VUPs of consolidated VAX power and the results measure over 36 VUPs, the equivalent of a
VAX 3198 or VAX 7610, on each MARVEL CPU with nearly linear
Author Bio: Rob Lyons is a consultant for Resilient Systems, Inc. He specializes in highly
available VMSclusters, Storage Area Networks and complex solutions using the Charon-VAX
emulator product family. Previously, he was part of the corporate support engineering team for
VMS systems and clusters at DEC/Compaq and a member of the development team for disaster-
tolerant systems.
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Article Title: [ » HTML , » PDF ]
Structured Programming in Macro-32
Author name: Dick Munroe
Article Abstract: Structured programming is one of the earliest programming disciplines
developed. In its time it has probably done more to accelerate the development of product and
improve the quality of delivered product than any other single improvement in software
engineering short of the development of 2nd and 3rd generation programming languages. One
area that has largely been left out of the structured programming revolution is programming in
various macro assembly languages. In part, this is because in most cases 3rd generation
languages (like C or Bliss) can be used instead. However, there are environments (notably stage
1 and 2 device driver development where OpenVMS/VAX compatibility is a principle issue) in
which macro programming is still relevant. This article discusses structured programming, its
psychology and discipline, and applies simple programming techniques to achieve most of the
goals of structured programming in the context of writing Macro-32 code.
The article will focus on a set of structured programming macros written for Macro-11 and
extended to Macro-32 used to achieve the goals of structured programming in the Macro
language environment.
Author Bio: Dick Munroe entered the programming business in the late 60s. He started on
mainframes and quickly got introduced to the wonders of DEC's PDP systems (starting with the
PDP-12). He came to Digital Equipment Corporation in 1974 where he was involved in such
things as the developing and deploying the early DECnet architecture, developing the File Access
Protocol and Listener for RSTS/E, building the prototype of the HSC50 storage controller (along
with such luminaries as Barry Rubenstein, Bob Subnik and Bob Blacklege), and a great many
other things. He joined Prime in 1980 to pursue development of a distributed operating system.
Doyle, Munroe Consultants followed Prime where his consulting projects ranged from kernel
development for embedded systems to management consulting. In 1992, he founded Acorn
Software, Inc. to develop some product ideas in the storage management space involving VMS
and data libraries of all sorts. He is currently at Cottage Software Works, Inc. doing systems and
general software development, mostly on Linux, wishing that OpenVMS was more widely
deployed in the industry, and looking for work (contract or permanent). His resume and
professional details are available at http://www.csworks.com/.
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Article Title: [ » HTML , » PDF ]
Best of Ask the Wizard
Author name: Stephen Hoffman
Article Abstract: This article covers in depth responses to common questions received by the
Wizard. This issue covers "Upward Compatibility and OpenVMS Releases" and "OpenVMS System and Password Security".
Author: Stephen Hoffman, OpenVMS Engineer
Author Bio: Stephen "Hoff" Hoffman, is a Consulting Engineer in the OpenVMS Engineering group, with
a variety of responsibilities. Areas of experience include voice applications and telephony, factory
floor networking, databases, device drivers and ACPs, web and internet technologies, hardware,
bad puns, clustering, with other areas too numerous to mention. Writings include the second
edition of the "Writing Real Programs in DCL" book and an update (presently underway) to
another Digital Press OpenVMS-related book
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