From: thompson@pan.ssec.honeywell.com (jt -- John Thompson)
Subject: re: Need Some Advice..
Organization: Electrotechnical Laboratory, Tsukuba Science City
Distribution: fj
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 23:57:41 GMT
Return-Path: <apollo-list-errors@srvr1.engin.umich.edu>



> I have recently inherited responsibility for a network os about 40
> HP9000/4xx workstations( Domain 10.4 ), and 1 HP9000/710 (HP-UX 8.7)....
Lucky you.  Throw out the 710 and you can ignore that yucky Un*x stuff.
:-)   :-)
 
> 1) What's the best way to integrate the 710 into the Domain network,
>    i.e. NFS mount the network root onto the 710, mount each using 
>    node onto the 710, etc.?
First, you're breaking semi-new ground here, so there's probably not a single,
known, "best" way to go.  However, you have two things to consider --
o   Accessing the 710(Unix) from the 400s(Domain/OS)
    You are probably best off from a Domain access view if you mount the 
    710's root directory as //HPUX_NAME, using the -root option of mount.
    This allows you to access any file from your Domain machines as 
    //machine/local/path/name.  I believe you need the Domain name-server
    (ns_helper) running to do this.  Ns_helper acts KINDOF like the Unix
    named in offering name resolution services to Domain machines.  With
    the 710 mounted in the replicated root (super-root), you can mount it
    with one node, and other nodes will "borrow" the mount point (though 
    they need access via the exports file) when they need it, if you have 
    the damd (Domain automount daemon) running on the Domain nodes.  Note
    that the damd is NOT NOT NOT the same as the Unix automount daemon.
o   Accessing the 400's(Domain) from the 710(Unix)
    It used to be that the recommended answer was to mount the super-root
    (//) of the Domain network from some single node.  This is NOT SUGGESTED
    any more, and I've switched allegiance on the issue too.  The reason is
    that you bottleneck NFS access through a single point, and force that
    node to do NFS->DDS translations, send the request out to the remote
    Domain node, get the answer back, do a DDS->NFS translation, and finally
    send the answer off to the 710.  If you mount each Domain machine 
    individually, each machine is responsible for their traffic only.  Even
    if you have a token ring that you gateway through, the packet transfer
    is much faster than the protocol conversion PLUS packet transfer.  Of
    course, this means that you have to have lots of systems having identical
    exports files, and you have to maintain them  as you add more Un*x boxes.
    :-(
    The automounter can alleviate some of the mount hassles that you WILL
    encounter, and if/when you pick up Domain NFS 4.1, you get the automounter
    for that side too, as well as support for NIS (though I haven't used it
    yet myself).  You do need to be at O/S 10.4 before using NFS 4.1....

> 2) What would be the best strategy for migrating the Domain network to
>    HP-UX?   
Kick all the users off, throw out the files (since they're typed on the Domain
nodes) and replace all the machines.  Then yell "SURPRISE!" on Monday AM.
Seriously, this answer is "it depends."  How many applications do you run
that need to stay on Domain/OS, for one reason or another?  If you don't have
many, you might consider the 9000/4xx -> 9000/7xx trade-up program.  This 
lets you keep your memory, disks, tapes, ... from the 400 series nodes, but
puts a 700 series motherboard in the system (running HP-UX 9.0).  If you 
need to stay with Domain/OS for an extended time, you may find it better
to replace the 400s with Un*x boxes as time goes by.  The big Qs come up as
o   How many Domain/OS nodes/applications do you need to keep?
o   Where's your administrative knowledge?
o   Where do you do backups?  Add users?
o   Are you using ethernet for the Apollos, or ATR?  If ATR, how do you
    flip your primary network over to ethernet?
o   How much money do you have to throw at new systems?
o   How much money do you have to throw at helpful USENET people????  :-)

> 3) What is the best way to implement a shared modem pool which would 
>    allow dial-in access to the network?
Beats me.  Haven't I answered enough Qs for the day???   :-)   

-- jt --
John Thompson
Senior Engineer / Sys-Admin
Honeywell, SSEC
Plymouth, MN  55441
thompson@pan.ssec.honeywell.com

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
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