Host Specs vs Emulated Performance

astrodanco

Thanks for the tip on how to reconfigure my PersonalAlpha installation Network adapter settings to EWA0 so that a copy of this container can be used by FreeAXP.

Currently I already use a terminal emulator (Anziowin) to telnet into my PersonalAlpha server which is running on another computer. What I meant to convey is that It would be nice if it were possible to use a single PC (such as a laptop) to act as both client and server without having to use the single console window for both client and server purposes. This would be particularly useful for when I am away from home as it would allow me to open multiple client windows on the same machine that is running the server. I assume that with the new release of FreeAXP, it is at least possible to open one more client window using the second virtual serial port. Although not ideal, it is an improvement over what PersonalAlpha has to offer.

I guess I don't understand. I have my server and my clients all running on the same PC. I have as many client telnet session windows open as I want. Take a look at the release notes section concerning using TAP virtual Ethernet adapters. They work like a charm and make everything so easy. It just works. Heck, right now I have six telnet windows open, three into a SIMHed VAX and three into a FreeAXPed Alpha, all on the same PC. And both the virtual VAX and the virtual Alpha are clustered together. This virtual machine stuff is great. At the same time on the same PC I also have virtual Linux, virtual FreeBSD and virtual Windows XP machines running using Virtualbox. Cross platform development has never been so easy!

Astrodanco

Your setup sounds both fascinating and exotic.

I have only used the Stromasys PersonalAlpha emulator and have not tried SimH or FreeAXP yet. Looking at the PersonalAlpha forums over at Stromasys, nobody has yet reported being able to use their host Windows PC as both client and server and have been restricted to either using the OpenVMS console window for all activities, or using another PC to telnet into the host machine. In the latter case, it is of course possible to open many concurrent client sessions.

If I am correctly interpreting your post, it appears that these client limitations can be circumvented under FreeAXP or SimH, both of which seem to be working very well for you. I assume you have not used the Stromasys PersonalAlpha emulator as you hadn't mentioned it. I will download and read the FreeAXP documentation as I assume your reference to "TAP" configurations appears in these documents.

Another thing which I find confusing is your mentioning the use of a virtual environment (Virtualbox) which I have no familiarity with. Does the Virtualbox environment permit these client limitations to be overcome ?, or is it the host operating system or VAX/ALPHA emulators themselves that provide methods for setup of multiple client windows through multiple virtualised ethernet adaptors.

I would be very interested to hear more about your specific environment although I do not wish to abuse the thread integrity on this forum.

Perhaps you could explain some of the basics on how your host box is configured for example I would ask the following questions :-

1. Assuming your host is an x86 PC, what host operating system are you running ? (I am guessing this is a Windows flavour).

2. Does Virtualbox run under the host operating system ?

3. Do the guest operating systems you mention then run within the Virtualbox environment ?

4. Assuming the above guesses are correct, do the various VAX/ALPHA emulators then run under the guest operating systems ?

Perhaps you might be kind enough to send me a personal email message (my email address consists of my first and last name as you see it on this forum with no spaces or hyphens, followed by @hotmail.com). In the event you do not wish to do this then I would like to thank you for your comments and I will pursue the interesting clues you have already provided.

JC

< class='quote'>[1. Assuming your host is an x86 PC, what host operating system are you running ? (I am guessing this is a Windows flavour).
Yes, Windows 7 64-bit

< class='quote'>2. Does Virtualbox run under the host operating system ?
I shouldn't have mentioned Virtualbox. It has nothing to do with OpenVMS, VAXen or Alphas and it's not an emulator. It's just a cross-platform virtualization application. I like it. It's useful for hosting other x86 or AMD64 based operating systems under Windows. But it has nothing to do with FreeAXP. I shouldn't have mentioned it.

< class='quote'>3. Do the guest operating systems you mention then run within the Virtualbox environment?
Yes.

< class='quote'>4. Assuming the above guesses are correct, do the various VAX/ALPHA emulators then run under the guest operating systems?
Yes and no. I'm running FreeAXP directly on Windows 7. I'm also running SIMH directly on Windows 7. However, I could run SIMH on Linux under Virtualbox instead and I have done so (just for kicks).

Please forget everything I said about Virtualbox as it's totally off topic for this forum.

Please do read the FreeAXP release notes though as they're chock full of good info. So far FreeAXP is working very well indeed. I'm impressed.

Astrodanco

Thanks for clearing things up. I was uncertain if Virtualbox was the key element relevant to your Multiclient OpenVMS solution.

I will now take a closer look at FreeAXP (which I have not downloaded yet) as it is clear that the reason for your success with multiclient access comes from information documented in the FreeAXP kit.

I did take a look at the Virtualbox website and documentation last night and it is indeed an interesting product but not relevant to the OpenVMS solution.

Thanks Astrodanco

For comparison:

AlphaServer DS10L (EV6/466): 230.8
Personal Alpha 2.0.17 (Athlon II x4 620): 23.2
FreeAXP (Athlon II x4 620): 13.2

Like FreeAXP, PA only uses one core.<hr>