|
The VMS Resource – Directory & Links
From Mainframes.in – Home of Legacy & Mainframes Online
|
|
The VMS section of Mainframes.in provides a listing of WWW resources for VMS midrange systems. Mainframes.in is a comprehensive online resource for legacy and mainframe systems.
..
..
Add Links: If you have a web site that you wish to include in this directory, do let us know the details by sending a note about your URL to narsi@esource.in. We’ll quickly review the web site, and if found relevant, add it to the database. We look forward to web site owners and link exchange partners to submit URL. Thanks!
Content derived from Wikipedia article on OpenVMS
OpenVMS From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
OpenVMS V7.3-1 running the CDE-based DECwindows GUI Website: HP OpenVMS website Company/ developer: Hewlett-Packard and Digital Equipment Corporation Source model: Closed source Latest stable release: 8.3 / August, 2006 Kernel type: Monolithic kernel with modules License: Proprietary Working state: Current
OpenVMS (Open Virtual Memory System or just VMS) is the name of a high-end computer server operating system that runs on the VAX and Alpha family of computers developed by Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, Massachusetts (now owned by Hewlett-Packard), and more recently on Hewlett-Packard systems built around Intel Itanium CPU.
OpenVMS is a multi-user, multiprocessing virtual memory-based operating system (OS) designed for use in time sharing, batch processing, real time (process priorities can be set higher than OS kernel jobs) and transaction processing. It offers high system availability through clustering, or the ability to distribute the system over multiple physical machines. This allows the system to be "disaster-tolerant" against natural disasters that may disable individual data-processing facilities. VMS also includes a process priority system that allows for real-time process to run unhindered, while user processes get temporary priority "boosts" if necessary.
OpenVMS commercialized many features that are now considered standard requirements for any high-end server operating system. These include:
Built-in computer networking (originally DECnet and later, TCP/IP) Symmetrical, asymmetrical, and NUMA multiprocessing, including early clustering A distributed file system (Files-11) Integrated database features (RMS-32 and Rdb) Support for multiple computer programming languages An extensible shell command language (DIGITAL Command Language) Hardware partitioning of multiprocessors High level of security with versions evaluated at DoD NCSC Class C2 and, with the SEVMS security enhanced services support, at NCSC Class B1, per the NCSC Rainbow Series
Contents
1 History 1.1 Origin and name changes 1.2 Port to DEC Alpha 1.3 Port to Intel Itanium 2 Features 2.1 Clustering 2.2 Common Language Environment 2.3 File system 2.4 Timekeeping 2.5 Run-time Libraries 3 OpenVMS Hobbyist Program 4 Central OpenVMS-related topics 5 See also 6 External links
History
Origin and name changes In April 1975, DIGITAL embarked on a hardware project, code named Star, to design a 32-bit virtual address extension to its PDP-11. A companion software project, code named Starlet, was begun in June, 1975 to develop a totally new operating system, based on RSX-11M, for the Star family of processors. These two projects were tightly integrated from the beginning. Roger Gourd was the project lead for the Starlet program, with software engineers Dave Cutler, Dick Hustvedt, and Peter Lipman acting as the technical project leaders, each having responsibility for a different area of the operating system. The Star and Starlet projects culminated in the VAX 11/780 computer and the VAX-11/VMS operating system. The Starlet name survived in VMS as a name of several of the main system libraries, including STARLET.OLB and STARLET.MLB.
Over the years the name of the product has changed. In 1980 it was renamed, with version 2.0 release, to VAX/VMS (at the same time as the VAX-11 computer was renamed to simply VAX). With the introduction of the MicroVAX range such as the MicroVAX II and MicroVAX 2000 in the mid-to-late 1980s, DIGITAL released MicroVMS versions specifically targeted for these platforms which had much more limited memory and disk capacity e.g. the smallest MicroVAX 2000 had a 40MB RD32 hard disk and only 4MB of RAM, and its CPU had to emulate some of the VAX floating point instructions in software. MicroVMS kits were released for VAX/VMS 4.0 to 4.7 on TK50 tapes and RX50 floppy disks, but discontinued with VAX/VMS 5.0. In 1991 it was renamed again to OpenVMS to indicate its support for industry standards such as POSIX and Unix compatibility, and to drop the hardware connection as the port to DIGITAL's 64-bit Alpha RISC processor was in process. The OpenVMS name first appeared after the version 5.5-2 release.
Port to DEC Alpha The VMS port to Alpha resulted in the creation of a second and separate source code libraries (based on a source code management tool known as VDE) for the VAX 32-bit source code library and a second and new source code library for the Alpha (and the subsequent Itanium port) 64-bit architectures. 1992 saw the release of the first version of OpenVMS for Alpha AXP systems, designated OpenVMS AXP V1.0. (The decision to use the 1.x version numbering stream for the pre-production quality releases of OpenVMS AXP caused confusion for some customers and was not repeated in the subsequent porting program.)
In 1994, with the release of OpenVMS version 6.1, feature (and version number) parity between the VAX and Alpha variants was achieved. This was the so-called Functional Equivalence release, in the marketing materials of the time. Subsequent version numberings for the VAX and Alpha variants of the product have remained consistent through V7.3, though Alpha subsequently diverged with the availability of the V8.2 and V8.3 releases.
Port to Intel Itanium In 2001, just prior to its acquisition by HP, Compaq announced the port of OpenVMS to the Intel Itanium 64-bit EPIC architecture. This port was accomplished using the OpenVMS Alpha source code library and the VDE tool. The OpenVMS Alpha pool was chosen as the basis of the port as it was significantly more portable than the original OpenVMS VAX source code, and because the code was already fully 64-bit capable.
Unlike the port from VAX to Alpha, in which a "snapshot" of the VAX code base circa V5.4 was used as the basis for the Alpha release and the 64-bit source code library then diverged, the OpenVMS Alpha and I64 (Itanium) versions of OpenVMS are built and maintained using a common source code library and common tools.
OpenVMS I64 V8.0, the first pre-production quality release, was shipped in June 2003.
OpenVMS V8.2, the first production quality Itanium release, was shipped in January 2005. V8.2 is also available for OpenVMS Alpha.
OpenVMS I64 V8.2-1, adding support for Integrity Superdome and cell based systems, was released in September 2005. V8.2-1 is available for Itanium platforms only.
OpenVMS V8.3, was released for Alpha and Itanium platforms in September 2006.
Features OpenVMS can be divided into three layers:
The kernel, made up of input/output, memory management, and process/time management subsystems. Core services, made up of DCL (DIGITAL Command Language), RMS (Record Management Services), DECwindows (OpenVMS's X11 compliant windowing system), and the run-time libraries. Utility programs for support, system management, and programming.
Clustering OpenVMS supports clustering (first called VAXcluster and later VMScluster), where multiple systems share disk storage, processing, job queues and print queues, and connected either by specialized hardware or an industry-standard LAN (usually Ethernet). A LAN-based cluster is often called a LAVc, for Local Area Network VMScluster, and allows, among other things, bootstrapping a possibly diskless satellite node over the network using the system disk of a bootnode.
Mixtures of cluster interconnects and technologies are permitted, including Gigabit (GbE) Ethernet, SCSI, DSSI, CI and Memory Channel adapters.
OpenVMS supports up to 96 nodes in a single cluster, and allows mixed-architecture clusters, where VAX and Alpha systems, or Alpha and Itanium systems can co-exist in a single cluster (Various organizations have demonstrated triple-architecture clusters and cluster configurations with up to 150 nodes, but these configurations are not supported by HP).
Unlike many other clustering solutions, VAXcluster offers transparent and fully distributed read-write with record-level locking, which means that the same disk and even the same file can be accessed by several cluster nodes at once; the locking occurs only at the level of a single record of a file, which would usually be one line of text or a single record in a database. This allows the construction of high-availability multiply-redundant database servers.
Cluster interconnections can span upwards of 500 miles, allowing member nodes to be located in different buildings on an office campus, or in different cities.
Host-based volume shadowing allows volumes (of the same or of different sizes) to be shadowed (mirrored) across multiple controllers and multiple hosts, allowing the construction of disaster-tolerant environments.
Full access into the distributed lock manager (DLM) is available to application programmers, and this allows applications to coordinate arbitrary resources and activities across all cluster nodes. This obviously includes file-level coordination, but the resources and activities and operations that can be coordinated with the DLM are completely arbitrary.
With the supported capability of rolling upgrades and with multiple system disks, cluster configurations can be maintained on-line and upgraded incrementally. This allows cluster configurations to continue to provide application and data access while a subset of the member nodes are upgraded to newer software versions.
Common Language Environment Among OpenVMS's notable features is the Common Language Environment, a strictly defined standard that specifies calling convention for functions and routines, including use of stacks, registers, etc., independently of programming language. Because of this, it is possible to call a routine written in one language (e.g. FORTRAN) from another (e.g COBOL), without needing to know the implementation details of the target language. OpenVMS itself is implemented in a variety of different languages (primarily BLISS, VAX Macro and C), and the common language environment and calling standard supports freely mixing these languages, as well as Ada, PL/I, Fortran, Basic, and others. This is in contrast to a system such as Unix, which is implemented nearly entirely in the C language.
File system Main article: OpenVMS filesystem OpenVMS has a very rich filesystem, with support for stream and record-oriented IO, ACLs, file versioning, etc.
Timekeeping OpenVMS keeps times as a 64-bit number of 100 nanosecond intervals since the epoch. The epoch of OpenVMS is midnight on November 17, 1858, which is the start of Modified Julian Day numbering. The clock is not necessarily updated every 100 ns; for example, systems with a 100 Hz interval timer simply add 100 000 to the value every hundredth of a second. Time is usually kept to an accuracy of at least 0.01% and timekeeping is independent of the ac mains frequency.
While the system is shut down, time is kept by a Time-of-Year ("TOY") clock. This clock keeps time to a lower resolution (perhaps 1 second) and generally, a lower accuracy (often 0.025% versus 0.01%). When the system is restarted, the ordinary VMS 64-bit time value is recomputed based on the time kept by the TOY clock and the last recorded year (stored on the system disk).
The 100 nanosecond granularity implemented within OpenVMS and the 63-bit absolute time representation (the sign bit must be clear) mean that the OpenVMS native format should have no trouble with time until 31-JUL-31086 02:48:05.47. At this time, all clocks and time-keeping operations in OpenVMS will suddenly fail, since the counter will overflow and start from zero again.
Though the native OpenVMS time format can range far into the future, C applications on OpenVMS can encounter timekeeping problems during January 19, 2038 with the Year 2038 problem, and various components and applications may also encounter field-length-related date problems at 10000 (see the Year 10,000 problem).
Run-time Libraries OpenVMS contains a very rich set of Run-time Libraries (RTLs). These cover a wide range of functions, including String manipulation (STR$ routines), Mathematical operations (MTH$ routines), DECtalk access operations (DTK$ routines), Parallel Processing operations (PPL$ routines), Screen Management operations (SMG$ routines) and a number of other categories grouped together as General Purpose functions (OTS$ routines). These functions, combined with the low-level System Services, make it easy to write complex programs.
Before writing a simple program in a High-Level language, however, the user should consider whether the required operation can be completed using DCL's functions from a command file.
OpenVMS Hobbyist Program Despite being a proprietary commercial operating system, in 1997 OpenVMS and several layered products were made available free of charge for hobbyist, non-commercial use as part of the OpenVMS Hobbyist Program. Since then, several companies producing OpenVMS software have made their products available under the same terms, such as Process Software and MVP Systems.
As of 2005, the time required to obtain a hobbyist license was approximately one week from start to finish.
More information on the hobbyist program can be found at http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/ and http://www.OpenVMS.org
Central OpenVMS-related topics OpenVMS-related terms and acronyms include:
ACMS - Digital's transaction processing (TP) system, often used with the DECdtm distributed transaction manager system service components of OpenVMS, and with the DECforms and Rdb products in applications with transactional requirements Asynchronous system trap (AST) DECforms - Digital's successor to the Forms Management System DECnet - Digital's proprietary networking architecture which also includes MOP. DIGITAL Command Language (DCL) - Digital Command Language - command line interface. DECwindows - Digital's implementation of the X Window System. Event flag - a simple synchronization mechanism Files-11 - low level filesystem, also known as the XQP File Description Language (FDL) - File Description Language - defines file record/field structure. Forms Management System (FMS) - Digital's first generation language-independent Form driver. Local Area Transport (LAT) - is a non-routable serial communications protocol to support DEC Terminal Servers QIO Queued Input Output Rdb - An SQL compliant relational database created by DEC but now owned by Oracle and called Oracle Rdb Record Management Services (RMS) - high-level, language/device-independent Input/output Runtime libraries (RTL) - shared routines and functions, callable from any language
See also Comparison of operating systems SRM -- The boot firmware required to boot OpenVMS on DEC Alpha-based computer systems UEFI -- the boot firmware used by OpenVMS on Itanium platforms FreeVMS -- A GPLed clone of VMS Paris Metro Line 14 -- A notable OpenVMS client Indian Railways -- another (very) large OpenVMS client Terry Shannon -- late advocate of OpenVMS
External links OpenVMS.org Family of News & Information Portals:
OpenVMS.org (English) dba.OpenVMS.org (Database Admin News) dcl.OpenVMS.org (Digital Command Language) fr.OpenVMS.org (French) it.OpenVMS.org (Italian) de.OpenVMS.org (German) Other Links:
HP OpenVMS Systems website OpenVMS 20th anniversary (1997) - contains historical facts HP OpenVMS FAQ OpenVMS Resource Center (OpenVMS FILESERV) OpenVMS Hobbyist Program Introductory Info for New OpenVMS Hobbyists Process Software MVP Systems OpenVMS Web Ring OpenVMS Programmer's Corner (primarily HP BASIC programs) comp.os.vms Usenet group - archives on Google Groups Deathrow OpenVMS Cluster (Public Access OpenVMS systems) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVMS" Categories: Computing platforms | OpenVMS | DEC Operating Systems | Operating systems | Hewlett-Packard
End of Wikipedia content, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVMS
VMS Midrange Directory & Resources @ Mainframes.in
Main Sections @ Mainframes.in
Legacy Operating Systems > Midrange, Mainframe Legacy Databases > DB2, IMS DB/DC, VSAM, CA/IDMS, Unidata Legacy Programming & Development
Legacy Hardware > Mainframe Hardware, Midrange Hardware
Legacy & Non-legacy > Legacy & Contemporary OS, Legacy & Contemporary Databases, Legacy & Networking, Legacy & Contemporary Programming Languages, Legacy & Mainframe Migration
..
..
Other IT Resources
eIT.in – IT & Software Directory & Resources
Software > Operating Systems, Databases, Programming & Development, Mainframe & Legacy, Internet & Web
Hardware, Networking & Communications, IT Strategy & Design, IT in Industries, IT in Functions, IT Infrastructure, Tech Support, IT Industry & Trade Network, IT News & Updates
Mainframes.in provides directory and web links resources for the legacy, mainframes and midrange systems. It is intended to be useful for mainframe programmers & developers, midrange programmer & developer, legacy & mainframe databases software development, administrators & DBAs, application developers, mainframe strategy architect, legacy design specialists and architects, mainframe & legacy migration consultants and analysts, administration, maintenance & support professionals, mainframe & legacy outsourcing consultant, legacy solutions programming developers & coders, project management & functional analyst, and for mainframe, midrange, system administrators, testing & quality control engineers. It will make an effort to provide resources on tutorial/tutorials, guide/guides, tips, faq/faqs on these mainframe and legacy topics.
Reference
GeoDig – Get Local!
Have you checked out the GeoDig directories for over 30 countries? GeoDig provides useful local and regional web resources for over 200 cities around the world. See the list of cities and countries for which GeoDig provides locality-specific web resources.
North America USA - Alabama (AL) > Birmingham; Alaska; Arkansas (AR) > Little Rock; Arizona (AZ) > Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson; California (CA) > Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield; Colorado, CO > Denver; Connecticut, CT > Hartford; District of Columbia, DC > Washington DC; Delaware (DE) > Wilmington; Florida > Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville; Georgia > Atlanta; Hawaii > Honolulu; Idaho; Illinois > Chicago; Indiana > Indianapolis; Iowa; Kansas (KS); Kentucky (KY) > Louisville; Louisiana (LA) > New Orleans, Baton Rouge; Maine; Maryland (MD) > Baltimore; Massachusetts > Boston, Springfield; Michigan > Detroit, Grand Rapids; Minnesota > Minneapolis-St. Paul; Mississippi (MS); Missouri (MO) > Kansas City, St. Louis; Montana; Nebraska (NE) > Omaha; Nevada (NV) > Las Vegas; New Hampshire; New Jersey (NJ) > Jersey City, Newark; New Mexico (NM) > Albuquerque; New York > New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Syracuse; North Carolina (NC) > Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Greensboro; North Dakota; Ohio> Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, Youngstown, Dayton; Oklahoma (OK) > Oklahoma City, Tulsa; Oregon > Portland; Pennsylvania > Philadelphia, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Scranton, ; Rhode Island (RI) > Providence; South Carolina (SC) > Greenville; South Dakota; Tennessee (TN) > Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville; Texas > Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, McAllen; Utah (UT) > Salt Lake City; Vermont; Virginia (VA) > Norfolk, Richmond; Washington > Seattle; West Virginia; Wisconsin (WI) > Milwaukee; Wyoming Canada - Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Hamilton, London
Europe - UK - London, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leicester; France - Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Bordeaux; Germany - Frankfurt (Frankfurt am Main), Munich (München), Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne (Köln), Essen, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Bremen, Duisburg, Hannover, Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Dresden, Leipzig; Italy - Milan (Milano), Rome (Roma), Napoli (Naples), Torino (Turin), Palermo, Bologna, Firenze (Florence), Genova (Genoa); Spain - Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Malaga, Murcia, Las Palmas, Bilbao; Scandinavia - Finland - Helsinki (Helsingin), Espoo, Tampere (Tampereen), Vantaa, Turku, Oulu, Sweden - Stockholm, Goteborg (Göteborg), Malmo (Malmö), Uppsala, Vasteras (Västerås), Denmark - Copenhagen (Københavns), Aarhus (Århus), Odense, Aalborg (Ålborg), Norway - Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim; Benelux - Belgium - Brussels (Brussel), Antwerp (Antwerpen), Ghent (Gent, Gand), Charleroi, Liège (Liege), Netherlands - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Tilburg, ‘s-Gravenhage (sGravenhage), Groningen, Luxembourg - Luxembourg City; Portugal – Lisbon; Greece – Athens; Hungary – Budapest; Poland – Warsaw; Switzerland - Zürich (Zurich), Geneva (Geneve, Genève), Basel, Bern (Berne), Lausanne; Austria - Linz, Vienna (Wien), Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck; Ireland – Dublin
Asia - India - Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore; China & Hong Kong - Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuhan, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Harbin, Xian; Japan - Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka, Kawasaki, Hiroshima; South Korea - Seoul, Pusa, Taegu, Incheon, Taejeon, Taiwan - Taipei; Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur; Singapore; Russia - Moscow, St Petersburg
Middle East - Turkey - Istanbul, Israel - Tel Aviv
Oceania - Australia - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide
Africa - South Africa - Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban
|
Web Co-ordinator: Narasimhan Santhanam ( narsi@esource.in )
© 2004 – 05, From Mainframes.in – Home of Legacy & Mainframes Online