First, I apologize for the delay, but I've been away from the office
recovering from a sports-related injury for most of the past 2 months
& still have about a month to go.
My original question had to do with Alpha 2100 servers, whether they
were still supported, and what "unsupported" means. A number of
people on the managers list sent me questions, but digging up answers
was a bit slow. Going to QuickSpecs,
http://www5.compaq.com/products/quickspecs/10513_na/10513_na.HTML,
for UNIX version 5.1 shows the 2100 under the compatibility list.
V5.1 comes with firmware CD V5.8, so I assumed that I could order the
two CDs.
After a lot of searching, I decided to contact pre-sales tech support
and was fortunate enough to connect with Rodney Dollar. So here are
some of the conclusions so far:
1. It seems to me that "unsuported" is not the appropriate term to
use. The more appropriate though still rather general term is
"retired." What this means is that a system is no longer produced nor
are new devices built for it.
It also means that compliance of existing devices with new FW/UNIX
versions depends on the efforts and interests of individual
managers. Though a particular device, say a RAID controller, may be
supported in a present FW/UNIX version, it may not be supported in
the next.
2. What hardware is supported is not directly open to the public.
Though I was delighted that the QuickSpecs info listed my 2100, I
discovered through Rodney Dollar, who has access to files that I
could not get to (nor knew of their existence), that my KZPSC-AA RAID
controller is not supported; in fact, none of the KZPSC controllers
are.
For people with retired systems, the most important consideration
noted above is, in my opinion, to contact people at pre-sales tech
support to ask whether one's specific hardware configuration is
supported under a previous or current FW/UNIX version.
3. Presently, it seems that I may be able to use UNIX V4.0f, though
Rodney was kind enough to request the details of my 2100
configuration for further study, which I will send him shortly.
4. When I have more details, I'll send the List a final update.
george
--
George Mpitsos, PhD
Neuroscience/Dynamical System Studies
Hatfield Marine Science Center
Newport, OR 97365
Phone: 541.867.0216
Fax: 541.867.0138
e-mail: george.mpitsos_at_hmsc.orst.edu
Received on Thu Dec 07 2000 - 02:04:38 NZDT