From: mcdonald@dallas.sil.org
Newsgroups: vmsnet.networks.desktop.pathworks
Subject: Re: Pathworks performance vs Novell
Date: 3 Oct 92 08:14:21 CST
Organization: Summer Institute of Linguistics, Dallas Center

In article <98*ofabel@si.upc.es>, Abel <ofabel@SI.UPC.ES> writes:
>    We want to ask some questions about the "answer time" of Pathworks in
>    the environment that we describe below:
>  
>       -Microvax II
>       -Pathworks for DOS V 4.1
>  
>       Client configuration:
>  
>       PC's 386 SX 20 with 3Mbytes
>       MS-DOS 5.0
>       QEMM 6.0
>  
>       The Microvax II is exclusive-dedicated for this purpose and we
>     have installed both Disk and File Services. We have seen that the time
>     since you call an application and the moment when you can work with it
>     is more or less a constant time.

A Microvax II is a .7 vup machine - about equivalent to a 25mhz 286 AT in
computational performance.  Of course, the I/O can be a lot higher, but not
if PATHworks can't figure out what to O.  I used to have a VAxstation 2000
that I used as an X-terminal, and it could hardly keep up with the CPU
needed to display a graphic screen fed to it by other systems.  How do you
expect it to serve PC's effectively?
 
>  
>        In the other hand, we have installed the same environment in a
>     Netware File Server (Novell) using the same network and we have proved
>     that there is a big reduction in seconds.

This machine is probably 10-20 times faster than your aging MV II.  It
probably also has some nice fast SCSI disks in it rather than RA80s.
>  
>        Has anyone got the same response-time with a VAX machine comparable
>     with a Novell Server? In the afirmative case, which kind of VAX machine
>     is using? Which are the principal parameters that can affect more di-
>     rectly in perfomance?
>  

Sure.  My Vaxstation 4000-60's serve much faster than a 486-33 serving
Novell.  My 4000-500 would do even better, but I'm using that exclusively
for Allin1 (The Pig with Wings).  A pair of RZ53's (striped) on each of my
servers doesn't hurt much either.

DEC's best kept secret - the Microvax 3100-90.  It will run you about $12K,
but will run rings around any wimpy Intel box that you can find anywhere. 
We got a 3100-80 right before the -90's were released, and have been quite
impressed with the thing.

We saw a more-than-perceptible increase in performance by doing a
disk-defrag recently.
Here are our server parameters:
   Number of workstations     [   50]    File extent in blocks      [    3]   
                                                                              
   Cache size in pages        [ 4096]    Cache buffer size in bytes [ 8192]   
                                                                              
   Enable open file caching ? [    Y]    File close delay in seconds[   15]   
                                                                              
   Open Files per workstation [    6]    Log delay                  [   60]   
                                                                              
   Lock wait                  [  200]    Memory to use.             [   80]   
                                                                              
One more thing:  We didn't select pathworks 'cause it would give us the
best performance.  We use pathworks because it gives us a uniform
environment for VMS, DOS, and MAC, with seemless E-mail (I'm using
MAILworks, Allin1 IOS, X.400, and several other systems, all passing
binaries seemlessly.  It's also quite a treat to pull up the same directory
in DOS, MAC, VMS, and POSIX interfaces - let the person use what they are
culturally accustomed to - rather than forcing them into one scheme.

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