VM Migration |
SLAC 9 Apr 1998 |
New!
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As described in the SLAC Strategic Plan for Computing, SLAC is moving from mainframe computing based on VM to a distributed computing paradigm. Current VM mainframe services will be made available through client-server technology to users on desktop PCs and Macintoshes, UNIX workstations, and X Terminals.
End of general service for SLACVM is March 15, 1998. After that date justification will be required for continued use. The final shutdown of SLACVM will be June 1998.
Effective immediately:
The following sections describe the schedule and strategy for transferring major services from VM. Announcements will be made via VM news, the slac.announce.slacvm netnews group, and on this WWW page prior to discontinuing services.
If you have concerns about the VM Migration plans, please contact Chuck Boeheim for assistance.
SLAC has central support for Windows NT, Macintosh, and UNIX. Your choice from these platforms will be governed by the type of computing you do and possibly by the people with whom you communicate.
You may find you need a mixture of both styles of computing. Since it is relatively easy to access UNIX systems from Macintoshes or PCs, but not vice-versa, a good model for mixed computing is a Mac or PC on the desktop with X-Windows software to access the UNIX systems.
There are many classes and seminars available to help you learn about the new systems.
There are many mail readers available on UNIX, and SCS supports and recommends the pine mail reader.
Application | Migration Strategy | Status | Person Responsible |
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Binlist | much of functionality will be provided by PeopleSoft; other data provided in Oracle database PERSON; | Diana Gregory | |
BFMail | functionality assumed by MajorDomo mailing list facility; | George Crane and Bebo White | |
Depot | Spires application; | DONE | George Crane |
ELDREQ | will be available in PeopleSoft; | ||
Stores Catalog | will be available in PeopleSoft; | search now available via WWW; | |
Draw | Spires application; will be converted to Unix Oracle; | ||
Captar | moved to Unix Oracle; | DONE | George Crane |
TMS | Sandra Crawford | ||
Phone | |||
Library | will be available via Unix Spires and WWW; | Pat Kreitz | |
Cables | |||
Ports | |||
Purch | will be available in PeopleSoft; | ||
Trainrpt | will be moved to Unix Oracle; | ||
ChartA | will be available in PeopleSoft; | ||
Phonlist | will be available in PeopleSoft; | Diana Gregory | |
TechDAB | |||
Stores | available via WWW; | ||
Pubstore | will be available in PeopleSoft; | ||
Commits | will be available in PeopleSoft; | ||
Labor | will be available in PeopleSoft; | ||
Property | will be available in PeopleSoft; | accessible via WWW | |
Cost Reporting | will be available in PeopleSoft; | ||
SNAP Vendors | will be available in PeopleSoft; |
Statistics
on the current usage of all VM SPIRES databases are available.Casual file sharing, of the sort exemplified by GIME <username> commands, is more difficult to provide in a distributed computing environment. The AFS file system provides a common file system to all supported UNIX systems at SLAC (and indeed to anyone running AFS anywhere on the Internet). However, there are not yet good AFS clients for PCs and Macs, though SCS is actively investigating those and expects to provide them in the future.
VM Maintenance Reduction | 10/1/96 | Maintenance on the ES9021-580 mainframe has been reduced from 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to a per-call basis. | |
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3800 Printer Removed | 8/96 | The 3800 printer has become too expensive to operate and maintain, and the floor space is needed for an additional tape silo. Please re-direct small print jobs to your local departmental printers, using the PRT command. For larger jobs, SCS has acquiring a Xerox 4090 printer, which can print 40 sheets per minute. Instructions on the use of this new printer will be made available soon. | |
VM Capacity Reduced | 7/22/96 | The VM system reduced from a 3 CPU configuration to a single CPU. The number of 4490 (cartridge) tape drives has been reduced to 4, and most of the 3380 disk has been taken out of service. These changes are in response to the drastically reduced load on VM after the shutdown of the batch system. | |
Morgue for Dead Minidisks | 7/22/96 | A morgue is now available for minidisks removed from the VM system. On any UNIX
system, cd to /nfs/morgue/group/userid, where group is your
two-letter group code, and userid is your VM userid. Each minidisk belonging to
that account will be a subdirectory. Files from VM are usually in EBCDIC code, and need
translation before being readable on UNIX. The vmfile
command will translate EBCDIC to ASCII and convert VM record conventions to UNIX
conventions. The morgue will provide a snapshot of files on VM when any account is closed,
and will have a complete set of all VM accounts when VM is shutdown. The purpose of the
morgue is to ease the transition away from VM by providing continued access to VM files
after the end of VM service. Note that the minidisk morgue is only for "dead" minidisks. Some VM accounts have been disabled for login but their minidisks have not yet been moved to the morgue and then removed from VM. Such minidisks can be NFS-mounted from UNIX just as before the account was diabled; for example, by cd-ing to a path of the form, /nfs/slacvm/userid.vadr, where vadr is the virtual address of the particular minidisk (e.g., "191" for your A disk). Accessing a VM file via this path provides an automatic EBCDIC to ASCII conversion. |
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VM Account and Minidisk closures | 4/2/96 | On July 1, 1996, unused VM minidisks were deleted and unused accounts closed. All minidisks* that have not been linked since November 10, 1995 are considered unused. All accounts* that have no remaining minidisks after these are removed are considered unused. The data from the minidisks will be recoverable from the VM backup system for the remainder of the lifetime of the VM system. | |
VM Batch and Staging systems closed | 4/2/96 | The VM Batch and Staging systems restricted to only authorized users who have submitted justification for continued use of the system. |
* SLAC-only links
Action | Relevant Date |
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Budget application moves to PeopleSoft | 2/1/97 |
HRMS and Payroll move to PeopleSoft | 7/1/97 |
ELDREQ moves to PeopleSoft | 7/1/97 |
SLAC Library data moves to Unix | 7/1/97 |
Financials application moves to PeopleSoft | 10/1/97 |
Purchasing moves to PeopleSoft | 10/1/97 |
Justification for VM required | 3/15/98 |
SLACVM shutdown | 6/98 |
Future items to be scheduled: