Hello fellow admins,
I must first thank all those people who replied:
alan_at_nabeth.cxo.dec.com,
"Dr. Tom Blinn, 603-884-0646" <tpb_at_doctor.zk3.dec.com>,
Alan Davis <Alan.Davis_at_digital.com>,
rye <rye_at_jtasc.acom.mil>,
Scott Taylor <smt_at_gamma.physics.uiowa.edu>,
Tom Webster <webster_at_ssdpdc.lgb.cal.boeing.com>,
jason andrade <jason_at_dstc.edu.au>,
In my original poster I enquired about the availability of a UltaSCSI
adapter for the AlphaStation 1000. I quoted two adapters KZPBA-CB and
KZPCM-DA both of which are not in the "supported configurations list" and
asked whether these would in fact work. In addition, I asked what would be
the consequence on our DEC maintenance contract if we went ahead and used
the aforementioned adapters.
I'll split my summary into three sections; what is supported (and
ultimately the route which we are undertaking), what might be supported
soon and some comments about using unsupported parts within a system.
1) Supported UltraSCSI mode for AlphaStation 1000 (thanks to Rye
<rye_at_jtasc.acom.mil>):
- return our BA-356 S-series (cream colour scheme)
- purchase DS-BA356-KF (blue colour scheme)
- purchase PCI KZPBA-CA UltraSCSI adapter
(supported on all AlphaStations)
- purchase EISA DE425-AA 10-BaseT ethernet card
(frees up PCI slot)
- BN21K-02 SCSI cable
2) The KZPCM adapter (comments from Alan Davis) <Alan.Davis_at_digital.com>:
"The KZPCM is only supported on v4.0d as yet, and it requires
a kernel modification. Native support is slated for a future
release."
3) Unsupported parts and DEC maintenance contracts (comments from Dr. Tom
Blinn <tpb_at_doctor.zk3.dec.com>):
"As for your reseller's statement that your "maintenance contract could be
rendered void", I would ask for this in writing, and I would ask for the
supporting documentation. If you have a contract with Compaq Services, as
far as I know, your support contract will not be voided by usings options
not on the "officially supported" list, but if you have problems, you may
be told "it's not supported and we can't promise to fix it". In other
words, if the problem is in a supported area of the system, and exists
whether you have the "unsupported" equipment installed or not, we'll have
to fix it.
As for the testing of the options, you have a no longer marketed system.
As such, there may be no group in Compaq/Digital that has responsibility
for trying to put new adapter options (such as the KZPCM-DA which I
believe is just the IntraServer board you could buy from them directly) or
the KZPBA-CB board) through enough testing to claim "full support". So
it's possible that no one is going to fully evaluate the adapters and add
them to a list of supported options.
On the other hand, there is NOTHING in DIGITAL UNIX that checks any list
of "Supported Options". You might have a problem with the console
firmware if it needs to load device microcode during system
initialization, but as long as the device is initialized correctly,
DIGITAL UNIX is going to try to make it work. Unless there is a real
hardware incompatibility (and it's possible that there might be one, since
the adapters are much newer designs than the system you'd be plugging them
into, and if the system has any timing problem in its bus implementations,
just as an example, you might have problems with the adapter), then if the
system software isn't right, we will want to fix it and have it work
correctly.
My suggestion would be that you try to find a more cooperative reseller
who is willing to let you return the adapter if it won't work on your
system. You might look for a third party vendor like IntraServer or an
agent for a different policy on support.
Needless to say, I'm not making any official statement of support on
behalf of my employer, Compaq Computer Corporation. But I think your
reseller is being a bit more cautious than is really warranted. And I
know I could find the program manager for I/O options in the server group
and inform him of your interest if you wanted to try to go that way, but
if time is of the essence, you may need to assume some of the risk
yourself."
Regards,
Rich
/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\
/_/ Richard A Bemrose /_\ Polymers and Colloids Group \_\
/_/ email: rb237_at_phy.cam.ac.uk /_\ Cavendish Laboratory \_\
/_/ Tel: +44 (0)1223 337 267 /_\ University of Cambridge \_\
/_/ Fax: +44 (0)1223 337 000 /_\ Madingley Road \_\
/_/ (space for rent) / \ Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK \_\
/_/_/_/_/_/_/
http://www.poco.phy.cam.ac.uk/~rb237 \_\_\_\_\_\_\
"Life is everything and nothing all at once"
-- Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins
Received on Mon Oct 12 1998 - 15:16:20 NZDT