HP introduced a patch to resolve the Ping of Death problem in its 5.5 version of MPE/iX last month, but the solution still appears to need some work. The problem stems from the PING.EXE program shipped with Windows 95, a little utility that users can run to crash HP 3000 systems on the same network. Many different computer systems from a wide variety of vendors are susceptible to the Ping of Death. Some, like the HP 3000 and the Macintosh, will be completely safeguarded from the problem for the first time this summer.
Patch number NSTEDL8A went into general release in early July to fix the problem for 5.5 sites, but an early user reported problems with the bootp services on his HP 3000 once he installed the patch. The bootp problems, according to Mark Bixby of Coast Community College in Costa Mesa, Calif., kept his JetDirectEX print servers from communicating with the HP 3000. As of presstime Bixby had received a fix for the bootp problem caused by this Ping of Death patch. A beta patch, NSTEDQ1A, supersedes NSTEDL8A and is supposed to fix the bootp problem too. Well, NSTEDQ1A got superseded by NSTEDR8A, so ask for NSTEDR8A by name.
The news for customers on MPE/iX 5.0 is better. A patch to protect them from the Ping of Death was released in March, and HP recently updated the patch. Ask for NSTEDN1A from the HP Response Center if you run MPE/iX 5.0. You can get either patch online in Mover635 format from the US site or from the European site. Look for a Patch Database link at the site.
BLOB support lags
behind ODBCLink/SE
HP's efforts to get the new 32-bit ODBC driver out for its databases have caused it to leave a few items out of its first release of the ODBCLink/SE software, currently scheduled to ship sometime in September with MPE/iX 5.5 Express 3. Mike Kerwan of the HP 3000 database lab reported that support for Binary Large Objects -- the BLOBs that carry graphics and video in databases like Allbase/SQL -- won't be part of the first version of ODBCLink/SE. While HP 3000 sites have been focusing heavily on the support that ODBCLink/SE provides for IMAGE/SQL, the drivers are also being engineered to support HP's other databases. The HP-UX version of Allbase/SQL supports BLOBs, but it will be several months after first release before a version of ODBCLink/SE supports the data structures. HP is planning an Express 4 release in late 1997, perhaps a target for adding support of BLOBs in ODBCLink/SE.
Editor aids in
using Samba files
Graham Woolley of WhisperTech reports that an editor included in the company's Whisper FTP Plus file transfer software can be of help when working with files transferred to and from an HP 3000 using Samba. A component of this product is Whisper Edit Plus, which gives users the ability to directly edit HP 3000-based text files within Windows. Some users in the UK, where WhisperTech is based, see Whisper Edit Plus as a great alternative to using the 3000's Editor or shareware like QUAD. Edit PLUS supports COBOL and numbered files, file labels, lockwords, MPE and Posix file systems.
Whisper Edit can play a role for sites that are making use of the Samba file sharing software on HP 3000s, Woolley explained. Sites can deploy a single editor to view and edit text files on any server on their network, since it handles HP 3000 file specifics as well as the nuances of other platforms' file types. Prices go down from $99 for a single copy of Whisper FTP Plus, a PC-based solution that understands the HP 3000's FTP and includes the Edit Plus software. Order online from WhisperTech.
Oracle en route to
3000, but not 8
Oracle's recent coming-out party for the newest version of its relational database didn't include an announcement it would be supported on MPE/iX. But the list of supported platforms was phrased in generalities once discussions of Unix and NT support were revealed. Jennie Hou, the CSY manager in charge of the relationship with Oracle, said the company hasn't said one way or the other if the next generation of its database will be ported to MPE/iX.
In the meantime, Oracle is releasing the most up-to-date version of Oracle7 for the HP 3000. Version 7.3.2.3 is scheduled to ship in September, according to Hou. This version will provide some performance relief for sites using Oracle in client-server mode, where users sign on to the HP 3000 and then access Oracle. A listener process is being changed to a batch process spawning normal non-system processes, eliminating the need to re-tune HP 3000 process queues. The 4.0 version of the Oracle Gateway for TurboIMAGE, another enhancement, is currently in use in the customer base.
Customers who use Oracle on the 3000 report a serious increase in HP 3000 horsepower is often required when moving from TurboIMAGE or Allbase to Oracle. Extra memory is also important -- because Oracle is not fast at some kinds of retrievals as TurboIMAGE. Fast and wide SCSI disk drives are also an important way to provide the needed bandwidth and speed. And you'll have to be careful in SQL programming. One site reported that "just by adding an outer-join to an SQL process the run time can go from 30 seconds to 45 minutes." Finally, Oracle does have some good support for the HP 3000, but a very limited number of engineers who understand the platform.
VT3K still available
for HP 3000s
HP recently announced that it has discontinued its NS VT3K product, which allowed HP 9000s to log into the HP 3000. HP-UX 11.0 and later versions will no longer support the pathway from outside systems into HP 3000s. But there's still a means to let users onto the systems if you don't want to use telnet. (Some companies have restrictions on telnet services into HP 3000s, but no limits on proprietary, internal access.) A freeware project has been successful at creating a shareware version of the VT3K product, called FreeVT3K. The software is available from the Telamon Web site. The file can be uncompressed with either the gzip or uncompress programs under Unix. Notes in the README file -- which is part of a tar archive -- deliver instructions on how to use FreeVT3K.
Cross-platform scheduler
includes HP 3000 agent
Software & Management Associates (281.442.4882) has announced that OpCon/xps, its enterprise-wide Windows NT-based job scheduling system, can manage operations on HP 3000s and HP 9000s. The product, which sells in a starter configuration for $15,000, schedules, coordinates and operates all routine and ad hoc processes across heterogeneous networks, including servers under Unix and Windows NT, IBM AS/400s, and Unisys A-Series and 2200s, Digital's VMS and OpenVMS and OS/2. Any combination of these can be integrated to encompass an enterprise-wide scheduling strategy. A local agent operates tasks on each supported HP 3000.
The product also supports customized links to MVS scheduling products and other system management tools. OpCon/xps requires an NT server be in place to run the System Activity Monitor (SAM), the software's main engine. Four user interfaces, which allow users to define schedules, monitor, query, modify and print reports, are included. The interfaces, which run from PCs, give sites the option of monitoring from multiple points anywhere in the world to a single point of control. The starter kit also includes two days of training and installation support.