HP OpenVMS Systems

RA71, RA72 and RA73 disks on older VAX/VMS release

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The Question is:

 
We are using VMS 5.3, 5.3-1, 5.4 and 5.5-2 in a networked environment. These
systems currently use RA70 disks which are no longer available. We want to
upgrade to RA73 disks and have run some tests to see if they are compatible,
and did not seem to have a
ny problems, which is good news. I was told that there is an Error Log
Formatter (ELF) built into the drive which may need to be modified in order
to make the drives work correctly after an arbitrary amount of errors. Is
there a way of upgrading this ELF
for each of those operating systems? We need to puchase about 40 of these
drives, but prior to doing so, need some assurance the drives will not bite
the bullet after filling this Error Log. Thanks in advance for any help you
can provide.
 

The Answer is :

 
  The RA7x series disk drives -- including the RA73 -- are supported on
  (as it was then known) VAX/VMS V5.3-1 and above.
 
  Most common disk functionality -- COPY, MOUNT, INIT and BACKUP -- will
  function on VAX/VMS V5.3-1 and later.  There will be some minor operational
  limitations encountered -- example areas include device name recognition
  and display, the error reporting facility, and diagnostics and products
  looking specifically at disk devices and device names.  These restrictions
  will depend upon the type of drive, the system, and the version of the
  VAX/VMS (later OpenVMS VAX) operating system used.
 

  

     

     
answer written or last revised on ( 27-MAY-1999 )
     
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