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Conference azur::mcc

Title:DECmcc user notes file. Does not replace IPMT.
Notice:Use IPMT for problems. Newsletter location in note 6187
Moderator:TAEC::BEROUD
Created:Mon Aug 21 1989
Last Modified:Wed Jun 04 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:6497
Total number of notes:27359

4889.0. "MAC management through DECmcc" by SOS6::BONNAFE (Guy BONNAFE - CSC France) Thu Apr 15 1993 10:06


	Did anybody already try to manage MACs through NODE4 AM ? I have some
	problems that I can easily reproduce using DECmcc V1.2 or 1.3 on
	VMS or Ultrix. 

	Pathworks for MAC V1.1 is used and the MAC identify themselves as 
	"DECnet/Mac V1.1.0-MacIIci V7.0.1" or "DECnet/Mac V1.1.0-MacIIcx V7.1.0"

	Any comments appreciated.
	Guy.


	1/ the registering process for a MAC takes about 5 minutes. It's really
	a LONG time and can be a problem when trying a node4 autotopology
	because most of the MACs are timeouted.

	2/ it takes about 1 minute/1 minute 30 to display a partition from
	the MAC. That's too much for an interactive command ( note that the
	same command using NCP takes about 5 seconds, on the same MAC from the
	same station ).

	3/ first funny thing : after typing a command as :
		MCC>show node4 <MAC_NAME> all <partition>
	wait a few seconds and then type CTRL-C : the result is immediately
	displayed on the screen ! And with correct values !

	4/ more funny thing : when the previous command is issued, 2 links 
	are created on the local station :

$ mc ncp sh k link


Known Link Volatile Summary as of  8-APR-1993 14:10:58

   Link       Node           PID     Process     Remote link  Remote user

  8251   62.176 (SFPC05)   0000005E  SYSTEM              158  NML
  8252   62.176 (SFPC05)   0000005E  SYSTEM                0  NML

	So again, wait about 10 seconds and disconnect the link pointing to
	the remote link 0 : the result is immediately displayed. From this
	step, any show command issued on this MAC will be immediately answered,
	even if tried HOURS later ( note that only 1 link is now created,
	pointing to a non-zero remote link ) until exiting from DECmcc.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
4889.1Where can I get the patch ?GIDDAY::CHONGAndrew Chong - Sydney CSC Thu Jun 02 1994 01:57104
Problem in the base note was fixed by an MCC_DNA4_AM.EXE . This is documented in 
a STARS article (see below). But where can I get the patched image ? Please
don't say from the CSC because I am from the CSC . 


Thanks for any response.

Andrew
-----------------------------------------------------------------

[DECmcc]Problem trying to manage MAC PCs as NODE4 entities through DECmcc.


COPYRIGHT (c) 1988, 1993 by Digital Equipment Corporation.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No distribution except as provided under contract.

PROBLEM/SOLUTION ARTICLE OUTLINE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         
PRODUCT: Polycenter Framework ( DECmcc Director ) V1.3
         Polycenter Network Manager 200 ( DECmcc BMS ) V1.3
         Polycenter Network Manager 400 ( DECmcc EMS ) V2.3
         VMS 5.4-X, 5.5-X
         Ultrix 4.X

DATE:   09-SEP-1993



SYMPTOMS/PROBLEM:

When trying to manage MACs through Node4 AM, response times are VERY long:
about 5 minutes to register a MAC and about 2 minutes to display any partition.
A command to display the same attributes under NCP, from the same station on
the same MAC takes about 5 seconds.

Note that a consequence is that most of the time, these MACs are not 
discovered in a  node4 autotopology process because of timeouts.
        

ANALYSIS:

The actual symtoms are :
1/ After typing a command as :
        MCC>show node4 <MAC_NAME> all <partition>
wait about 10-15 seconds and then type CTRL-C : the result is immediately
displayed on the screen. And with correct values.

2/ After typing a command as :
        MCC>show node4 <MAC_NAME> all <partition>
we can see that 2 links are created on the local station :

        $ mc ncp show known link

Known Link Volatile Summary as of  27-APR-1993 14:10:58

   Link       Node           PID     Process     Remote link  Remote user

  8251   62.176 (SFPC05)   0000005E  SYSTEM              158  NML
  8252   62.176 (SFPC05)   0000005E  SYSTEM                0  NML

and one of them is always pointing to remote link 0. So again, wait about 
10-15 seconds and disconnect the link pointing to the remote link 0 : the 
result is immediately displayed. From this step, any show command issued on 
this MAC will be immediately answered, even if tried HOURS later ( note that 
only 1 link is now created, pointing to a non-zero remote link ) until exiting 
from DECmcc.

Further analysis :
------------------
The reason for the long delay when sending management requests to
DECnet/Macintosh is because the AM is trying to determine if the node
can handle multiple links.  Some DECnet implementations can service
several requests in parallel (VMS nodes for example), some routers
however, have only one management link so we have to treat them differently.

The access module makes the first connection, then tries to make a
second connection.  Routers which can't handle it immediately reject the
request with a SS$_REMRSRC.  That way the AM can tell that it is a "single
link" device.  The Mac on the other hand is single tasking and doesn't
even see the second request.  What happens is either the DECnet timer
eventually expires and the link fails, or a ^C aborts the attempt.
This is what is taking so long.


SOLUTION:

A new image MCC_DNA4_AM.EXE is available through CSC organizations. Two
modifications have been made :

If, the first time the AM tries to determine if the node supports multiple
links it gets a timeout, it assumes that it is a single link device and marks
it  as such in the in-memory cache so that future requests don't try to make
the second connect. This means that there is still a lag, but only once.  
After that the system knows it needs to make serial requests.

The second change is that a trace bit setting is added, which overrides this
checking scheme and treats *all* requests as single link requests. To use 
this setting, define the following logical before running MCC :
        $ define MCC_DNA4_AM_LOG 100


4889.2LocationPRSSOS::BONNAFEGuy BONNAFE - CSC FranceThu Jun 02 1994 05:087

	You'll find it at :
		BIKINI::MCC_DISK:[BMS013.VMS.PATCH]

	Guy.