Conference 7.286::fddi

1225.0. "Decnet,Lat,Last,Pcsa on ethernet/FDDI" by BGO01::ARVID () Mon Feb 07 1994 04:17

	Hello,

  After installing FDDI adapters into 4 systems: 6510, 6610, V4090 & A3500
and trying to start protocols using the FDDI port, we had a few problems. As
information does not seem to be easily available on how to setup various
protocols, I am entering our experiences. I should point out that I do NOT
consider myself a knowledgeable person on the subject of protocols, this
is merely a summary of our setup.

  The example below is a V4090 with a turbo-channel/FDDI interface, since we 
had "most problems" with this system (a PC boot/file server).



	Decnet:

  This is a configuration with (non-Dec) bridges, FDDI-to-ethernet, and when
running Decnet on both FDDI and ethernet we got SEVERE performance problems.
Some notes say that defining ethernet line/circuit state off AND REBOOTING
is good enough.

  We totally removed the old ethernet information and added FDDI information:

$mc ncp
> purge line ISA-0 all
> purge circ ISA-0 all
> define line FZA-0 state on
> define circ FZA-0 state on cost 4 service enable


	LAT:

  Lat should only run on one device, the (FDDI) device being defined in
SYLOGICALS.COM:

$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXEC LAT$DEVICE FCA0:


	Pathworks:

  We defined netbios device, also in SYLOGICALS.COM:

$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXEC NETBIOS$DEVICE FCA0:


	LAST:

  Though notes stated that LAST could be run on multiple devices, we did
NOT get that working at our site. Another engineer pointed out that since
all the other protocols were running on only one device, we should try that
with LAST as well. LAST worked when running on only one device (FDDI). The
symptoms, when trying to run LAST over both ethernet and FDDI were: a PC
seemed to be able to connect to a file service (with the use command) but
could not actually access any data on that file service. We ended up with
the following entry in SYS$STARTUP:ESS$LAST_STARTUP.DAT:
 .
 .
 ALL_CONTROLLERS=OFF
 DEVICE=(FCA)
 .
 .


	
	Vmscluster (SCA):

  VMS automatically configures multiple devices for cluster protocols. We
did nothing and the protocols run on both ethernet and FDDI.

	Device buffer size (NCP line):

  We did not increase the NCP (line) device buffer size because we expected
problems from the non-Dec bridge not being able to handle larger packets
than 1500.


	LRPSIZE:

  The cover letter for VMS V5.5-2H4 states that Vaxes with FDDI should have
LRPSIZE minimum 4541. We set this, but we might be allocating large packets
without being able to use them, due to device buffer size being default (1498).


	Which protocols run on what device can be viewed by:

  $ analyze/system
  > show lan


	I hope this info helps others to "get it right" the first time.


	regards
	Arvid Nes
	Digital, Bergen, Norway

�	LAT:
�
�  Lat should only run on one device, the (FDDI) device being defined in
�SYLOGICALS.COM:
�
�$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXEC LAT$DEVICE FCA0:

While this is true, the logical name LAT$DEVICE is not documented anywhere.
The supported way for getting LAT started on a system with multiple LAN
controllers is to use LATCP and explicitly create the LAT link:

In LAT$SYSTARTUP (before SET NODE /STATE=ON):

$ LCP CREATE LINK LAT$LINK /DEVICE=FCA0

Mike

    Re .1
    
    Mike,
    
    LAT$DEVICE is documented in the OpenVMS V6.0 LATCP manual on page 11-8.
    It is documented with the LATCP> CREATE LINK command. 
    
    Norbert

    >LAT$DEVICE is documented in the OpenVMS V6.0 LATCP manual on page 11-8.
    >It is documented with the LATCP> CREATE LINK command. 
    
    I must have overlooked that...  I'll have to read what it says
    because it does not work entirely like it used to.
    
    Mike