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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

5803.0. "VBAM, who sells it? Is it supported?" by VFOVAX::GALVIN (Mic, MCI Team) Tue Dec 28 1993 15:28

    
    	Vitalink AM Information
    
    A few questions regarding VBAM:
    
    	- who sells this?  How much?
    
    	- does it run on EMS V2.3?
    
    	- will there be support for Vitalink Bridges in *future*
    	  releases of MCC, or does that fall under the jurisdiction
    	  of NETVIEW "to do's"?
    
    	- is there an alternative to managing Vitalink Bridges
    	  other than integrating the MIB and setting up Internet
    	  addresses?
    
    
    I will post a similar note in NETVIEW.  Thanks in advance.
    
    /Mic

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
5803.1	re .0	TRKWSH::COMFORT	Here beside the rising tide	`Thu Dec 30 1993 10:18`	22
	My customer bought the orignal VBAM module from Digital ~2 years ago. I think it was $1500. Earlier this year we learned about the updated version for MCC V1.3 (VBAM 1.2) and the customer contacted Digital and recieved a no charge update. I would assume then that the product is still available through the third party software distribution channels. The product works just fine with MCC V1.3 and in fact that is what we are using in leiu of the fact that the TransLan O.S. with SNMP support caused massive failures in my customers extended LAN. At this time I do not know if the problems with the SNMP versions of the TransLan software have been resolved... certainly my customer has not received any positive updates for most of this year. I can not speak for the TransPath systems, which were purported to provide SNMP access and IP routing using RIP, HELLO or OSPF. In terms of continued support, I understand that this version is it. Anyone who knows different, please jump in. Dave
5803.2	WANmanager vs. VBAM???	VFOVAX::GALVIN	Mic, MCI Team	`Thu Dec 30 1993 12:10`	16
	Dave, Thanks for the reply. I'll pursue it with the customer to see if in fact they have bought a copy of VBAM. Personally, we haven't experienced any failures with Vitalink... we've turned on the IP addresses and have been managing the bridges as SNMP entities. I was just curious as to whether we get move management capabilities with VBAM. There's a product called WANmanager, that Vitalink makes... I hope to be able to justify purchasing VBAM from a technical standpoint... Any input is welcome... /Mic
5803.3	IMO	TRKWSH::COMFORT	Here beside the rising tide	`Thu Dec 30 1993 12:32`	28
	Mic - If I may inquire, is the customer MCI? If so, could you please contact me offline at TRKWSH::COMFORT? Also, I have mixed feelings about SNMP vs. the VBAM module. Because of the protocol used in VBAM, I have experienced problems with false unreachable alarms, ie. a dirty line, which was already being reported by looking at line counters, caused packet timeouts on the bridge protocol. This was a minor anoyance to network managers, but caused a fair ruckess for the operators who are initially responding to the MCC alarms and don't necessarily have a complete understanding of protocol types, etc. On the other hand, in my experience not too many MIBs seem to return all the information one can get in a "native" mode from a given device. The SNMP module does give one the ability to do utilizations on a line, whereas the VBAM module just reports counters, but does not have any of the statistical calcs built in. I have pulled info out of RDB with DECquery and worked with it that way, but that involves at least a couple extra steps. In terms of being able to change any TransLan characteristics, I don't believe either module will allow much. Dave