HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
DTC/TIO Enhancements in MPE/iX 5.0
by Marie Perry and Rebecca Go Shih
Grenoble Networks Division-Cupertino
Introduction
The Datacommunications and Terminal Controller (DTC) family of terminal
servers provides LAN-based, asynchronous connections to HP 3000, HP 9000
and non-HP systems. It also provides X.25 communication and Telnet
access to HP 3000 systems. The DTC family of products allows terminals,
PCs in terminal emulation mode, serial printers, and other asynchronous
devices to communicate with LAN-based hosts in HP-only or multivendor
networking environments.
Enhancements to MPE/iX Release 5.0 include the following:
* Terminal I/O (TIO) performance enhancements
* DTC 16MX and DTC 16iX support
* Configuration of the DTC as a Simple Network Management Protocol
(SNMP) agent
* Automatic system Cross-validation within NMMGR application.
* FLASH EEPROM support
* Hardware Handshaking for modem ports
* Configuration of port for HP PowerTrust UPS for HP 3000 systems
* Support of 4649 Terminal I/O devices
* Support of 1000 Device Classes
With these DTC/TIO enhancements to MPE/iX Release 5.0, system
administrators, capacity planners, developers and other end-users will
find:
-- Their systems can support additional users.
-- Their systems have higher throughput than ever before.
-- They save time and confusion when configuring their DTCs.
-- They can take advantage of new hardware and hardware-related
features.
-- They can save money on support costs.
TIO Performance Enhancements
The new MPE/iX 5.0 TIO driver meets the following performance goals:
* Increased throughput in block, field and character modes,
* Reduced CPU overhead from the TIO subsystem of up to 30%, and
* Preserving end user and application transparency.
As a result, MPE/iX 5.0 users, developers, system administrators, and
capacity planners may find that the system can support higher throughput
than ever before.
DTC 16MX and DTC 16iX
The new DTC 16MX and DTC 16iX have a different physical layout from the
previous DTC 16 and will be supported as a "box replacement" for the DTC
16 hardware. These new DTCs can support up to 16 ports that can be
either direct connect or modem ports. The DTC 16MX provides device
access in a multivender environment and the DTC 16iX provides device
access in HP 3000-only environments. The DTC 16MX and DTC 16iX support
TIO connections only and therefore do not support the Telnet Access Card,
X.25 or PAD connections.
Configuration of the DTC as an SNMP Agent
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agent functionality has been
implemented in the DTC to allow it to respond to SNMP management requests
from a management station and provide object information to the SNMP
manager. MPE/iX Release 5.0 has been enhanced to allow the configuration
of the DTC as an SNMP Agent. New screens have been added to the Node
Management services configuration ManaGeR (NMMGR) application to allow
the configuration of the SNMP authorization filters, Management
Information Base (MIB) objects, and trap destinations.
NOTE If SNMP functionality is desired, NMMGR configuration of the DTC as
an SNMP agent is necessary when the DTC is being managed by
host-based MPE/iX. If PC-based DTC management is used, this
configuration is done through the OpenView DTC Manager product
(D2355A) on the PC.
Automatic system Cross-validation within NMMGR
Cross-validation between the NMMGR-configured logical devices (LDEVs) and
the configured system I/O devices (previously performed by running the
SYSGEN utility after exiting the NMMGR program) is now done automatically
for you. If you are using the file named "NMCONFIG.PUB.SYS" and the DTS
subsystem configuration is correct, NMMGR executes the cross-validation
with the configured system I/O devices by internally calling the SYSGEN
utility. You actually see the SYSGEN commands being displayed on the
screen as they automatically execute. Once the cross-validation is
complete, NMMGR displays the message "Cross validation with SYSGEN
complete". The display remains on the screen until you press RETURN.
(Manual cross-validation by running SYSGEN outside of NMMGR is still
supported.)
\ \ \ Important Details \ Please Read NMMGR has no way to verify that
the SYSGEN utility is
conflict-free, so you should pay
close attention to the SYSGEN
dialog that appears on the screen.
You must check all displayed
SYSGEN messages to ensure there
are no configuration conflicts
between NMMGR devices and system
devices. If there are any warning
or error messages regarding NMMGR
LDEVs, you must correct these
conflicts before rebooting the
system. Since you are still
within the NMMGR program at this
point, prior screens can be
directly accessed to correct the
configuration conflicts before
re-validation.
Support of FLASH EEPROM
Flash Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)
reprogramming is now available with host-based MPE/iX DTC management as
well as PC-based and HPUX-based DTC management. Flash EEPROM
reprogramming is used to replace a current DTC's ROM code that resides on
the LAN board.
NOTE ROM code residing on other boards cannot be reprogrammed using this
method.
The new ROM code file will be distributed via the current MPE/iX Patch
mechanism that will include instructions for installing the patched ROM
code file. TERMDSM has been enhanced to provide the Flash EEPROM
reprogramming functionality.
It is possible for ROM code reprogramming to leave the DTC in an unusable
state if an error or interruption occurs during a critical phase.
TERMDSM was specially designed to minimize the risk involved in this
process.
\ \ \ Important Details \ Please Read DO NOT POWER OFF THE DTC UNTIL
FLASH EEPROM REPROGRAMMING IS
COMPLETE! The DTC aborts the Flash
EEPROM reprogramming process if
FATAL errors occur leaving the DTC
in an UNUSABLE state. Recovery
from this FATAL situation requires
the LAN Board to be replaced in
the DTC. (Fatal error examples:
the DTC is powered off during
reprogramming, the DTC detects a
Flash EEPROM memory programming or
erasing error, catastrophic errors
occur during the critical
reprogramming phase normally
causing the DTC box to upload, and
so on)
The Flash EEPROM feature is only available with the new hardware family:
DTC 72MX (HP Part Number, J2070A), DTC 16iX (J2062A), and DTC 16MX
(J2063A). Therefore, the feature is not supported on the DTC 48 (2345A)
or the previous DTC 16 (2340A).
Hardware Handshaking for Modem Ports
In addition to being supported for direct connect ports, hardware
handshaking is now supported for modem ports. Hardware handshaking is
used primarily for flow control on DTC connections to some printers and
other devices that are driven by hardware handshaking signals rather than
by software XON/XOFF protocols. It is a bi-directional protocol which
uses external modem signals to allow a device to stop the flow of data
from the DTC when the input buffer is full.
The hardware handshaking feature is only available with the new hardware
family: DTC 72MX, DTC 16iX, and DTC 16MX. Therefore, the feature is NOT
supported on the DTC 48 or the previous DTC 16.
Configuration of port for HP PowerTrust UPS for HP 3000 systems
On some systems, a new port was added to allow the HP 3000 to connect to
external HP PowerTrust Uninterruptible Power System (UPS) hardware units
for a new method of system power failure protection. This new port was
added to the console card in the CPU. The NMMGR program was enhanced to
allow this port configuration. It is also possible to configure a DTC
port to allow it to connect to the HP PowerTrust UPS hardware.
Support of 4649 Terminal I/O devices
Terminals, pseudo terminals, serial printers and other asynchronous
devices are considered terminal I/O devices. With MPE/iX Release 5.0,
the number of supported terminal I/O devices is increased to 4649 (from
1700 devices prior to 5.0). The NMMGR program has been enhanced to allow
the 4649 terminal I/O devices to be configured. The number of LDEVs that
can be actively logged on will vary with the application environment (for
more details, refer to the article, "System Limits Improved" in this
Communicator).
Support of 1000 Device Classes
Device classes provide a means of accessing devices by a name up to
eight-characters long. With MPE/iX Release 5.0, the number of supported
device classes is increased to 1000 (from 450 prior to 5.0).
Product Documentation
The following list of product manuals were updated to include information
for th e new features describe previously in this article:
* Configuring Systems for Terminals, Printers, and Other Serial
Devices (32022-61000)
* Asynchronous Serial Communications: Programmer's Reference Manual
(32022-61001)
* Troubleshooting Terminal, Printer, and Serial Device Connections
(32022-61002)
* Customizing Terminal and Printer Type Files With the Workstation
Configurator (5959-2870)