3000 NewsWire Online Extra

Update of Volume 2, Issue 7 (April, 1997)

Hey -- I thought I wasn't getting 64-bit HP 3000s
While HP talked about its future processor plans at the IPROF conference which we covered in our April issue, it became plain that not everybody understands what they can count on HP to supply in new MPE/iX processor technology. Despite what HP did not promise about the Intel deal in late January, there will be a 64-bit chip in the HP 3000s. In fact, there already is.

The PA-8000 is the first fully 64-bit processor to come out of HP's RISC labs, and it's already up and running in the Series 979 systems shipped late last year. It's as 64-bit as it gets: 64-bit physical and addressing, and a full 64-bit data path. All registers in the processor are 64 bits wide. The 979, and the Series 997 high-end systems announced this week (see the story on the Always Online Web site) both use PA-RISC 2.0. This latest generation of the HP RISC architecture lets 32-bit programs run on it without changes, something you won't get from the IA-64 architecture. That's the Intel-HP project that HP won't yet commit to for the HP 3000. But if the question about 64-bits gets asked regarding the HP 3000, you can reply that it's already shipping.

Gavin Scott, a developer and engineer for MPE solution provider Denkart, reported on the glories of PA-RISC 2.0 in a recent Internet message:

"Now, one of the cool things about the PA-RISC 2.0 architecture is that even though all the general registers in the CPU have expanded for 32 bits to 64 bits, all existing PA-RISC 1.x code that expects there only to be 32 bits per register runs correctly. This is even accomplished without a special 32-bit "mode" of any kind. There *is* a "mode" bit that switches between old style 32 bit Space IDs with 32 bit offsets and 64 bit Space IDs with 64 bit offsets, but this only affects the way virtual addresses are constructed, and not what instructions you can execute."

"Because of the inherent compatibility between the 32-bit PA-RISC 1.x CPUs and the 64 bit PA-RISC 2.0 CPUs, it probably wasn't that hard for HP to get MPE running on the new systems. Since there is only one version of MPE today that runs on all systems, it's got to be the same code on all systems which means that MPE running on a PA-8000 system is simply not executing any of the new instructions that only work on PA-RISC 2.0 CPUs, such as 64-bit LOAD and STORE etc."

"As far as a 64-bit version of MPE goes, any such MPE version would of course only run on HP 3000s that had PA-8000 CPU chips, which means only the most recent midrange and high-end systems. What if HP were to move all future MPE development to the 64-bit systems? If they committed to giving you a real 64-bit version of MPE, but that meant that they might not be able to continue to enhance the existing MPE for PA-RISC 1.x systems beyond some point, and this was the only way that a 64-bit MPE could ever be cost justified, would you vote for HP to go this way? Would you be willing to upgrade your system at some point to a 64-bit one in order to run the latest (64-bit) version of MPE?"

What will you be missing out on until HP adopts a 64-bit MPE and IA-64 for the HP 3000s? A chance -- by no means a promise -- that the thousands of applications written for Unix and Windows NT would be available for your HP 3000. Nobody will know for at least a couple of years how much of that promise will be delivered to customers who can buy the Intel Architecture processors for HP 9000 systems. Meanwhile, your HP 3000 can take advantage of all of the 64-bit advantages: a massive address space for programs and the ability to support terabytes of memory.

How real is all that promise for HP 3000 customers? Consider this: the most experienced software architects in CSY are working on projects to extend the limits of MPE/iX --- in places like memory and processors. That work wouldn't be dominating the to-do lists if 64-bit HP 3000s weren't going to extend your processing power.

No more Sevcik on the Intel alliance
Rich Sevcik, a former general manager of the HP 3000 division who was promoted in 1994 to manage the HP-Intel chip project, left HP in April to work for Xylinx, a manufacturer of CMOS programmable logic and design software which hired Wim Roelandts as its CEO in early 1996. Sevcik reported to Roelandts when the latter ran all HP computing operations other than PCs and LaserJets. HP's 1995 reorganization left Roelandts reporting to Rick Belluzzo instead of CEO Lew Platt, and Roelandts left HP by the end of that year.

Sevcik's tenure in the HP 3000 community was notable for being on watch as CSY chief during the customer uprising over IMAGE. Something good came from that experience, as a serious effort began to add an SQL interface to the HP 3000 database. The IMAGE uprising at the 1990 Interex conference, played out before the national computer press, led to the Customer First strategy, which only began to take hold after Sevcik's departure as CSY chief.

Sevcik drew on a more technical background than some CSY general managers, gathering a master's degree in solid state physics and 18 years of experience with Northern Telecom and Bell Labs before he joined HP in 1987. The background served him well as HP's lead on the chip alliance with Intel. His departure from HP was sudden enough to leave his post uncovered as general manager of the Systems Technology Group. HP had made him a vice president in 1995.

Sources close to HP say that Sevcik's departure to work for Roelandts -- his former boss at HP -- means the beginning of the end for HP groups which don't have products at their heart. Systems Technology was created to manage worldwide research and development of advanced networking, operating system and PA-RISC technologies, and in time became the hub of HP's efforts on its Merced project. Its only product was its technology, a grouping that sources say doesn't play as well with Belluzzo. HP CSO general manager Dick Watts is working as acting head of Systems and Technology until a replacement is named.

Watch for the long-awaited DNS service on HP 3000s
HP 3000 customers who need a native Domain Name Server hosted on HP 3000s might not be waiting much longer. While HP started polling its customers for ideas on what to port to MPE/iX, one engineer reported that DNS was at the top of the group's to do list. Then the engineers in Bangalore, India learned that Mark Bixby, who's ported the Apache Web server to the HP 3000, has nearly completed such a DNS port.

The project is important because it removes the HP 3000's need to rely on non-MPE systems while connecting to the Internet. HP's Harry Sterling, general manager of the 3000 division, told us in his Q&A interview that DNS was an unlikely project to get a green light in CSY's labs, primarily because customers could use a Unix or NT server to provide the services. The fact that a less reliable platform stood as a gateway to an HP 3000 was a fact of life that customers would have to accept. Whether HP chooses to support the work that Bixby is finishing, and make DNS on the 3000 a supported product, still remains to be seen. An MPE/iX DNS would be another piece in the Internet puzzle to let 3000 sites run such networks without less-reliable platforms.

A new breed of Apache surfaces for the Web
Bixby, who works technical support for the Coast Community College District in Costa Mesa, Calif., has had a busy month. He's moved Apache/iX, the HP 3000 version of the world's most popular Web server, to version 1.2b10. Here's what Bixby says you get in the new version:

"Support for FastCGI. Now I understand why people are waiting for FastCGI -- the performance is amazing compared to traditionally forked CGI programs.
It also compiles "straight out of the box" from the official Apache group distribution. You should be able to build this on MPE from the source downloaded from www.apache.org. No new MPE functionality, but many generic Apache bug fixes from the official Apache developers."

Tie off this security loophole if your 3000 serves the Internet
3k Associates' Chris Bartram, who operates one of the busier HP 3000 Web servers at his Springfield Cyberlink site using Open Market Web server software, recently warned Web administrators about a potential backdoor to 3000 access, and how to close it:

"While this is a common trick in the Unix world, there is a program called 'phf' that is distributed with most every web server distribution in the world today, and a very commonly known "hack" to get it to return files (like /etc/passwd on Unix systems) to any user sending a properly formatted command to the web server over the net.
While there's no /etc/passwd on a 3000 to worry about, the phf program is probably still best disabled or removed. It's in the cgi-bin directory of your web server software.

While I don't know if phf can get to files in other accounts on the 3000, it's still best disabled. Be careful out there."

Yawn said he plans to post a copy of 1.1.2 to the CSY Jazz web site no later than the end of this month.

Yawn adds that the 1.1.2 software "will be at or very close to release quality when it is first put on Jazz, and if there is a '1.1.2 beta,' I expect it would be followed very shortly (1-2 weeks) by a '1.1.2 general release.' So that puts the general release in the second week of June at the latest, with expectations that it would be earlier."

You can download the latest version at http://jazz.external.hp ..com/src/java/1.1beta.html.

St. Paul Software shifts staff, schedules user group meet
HP 3000 EDI supplier St. Paul Software made some changes to its organization during May, all supporting its EC Center. The promotions augment its staff because of "the consistent growth of its professional services team and its EC Center service bureau," said a St. Paul spokesperson. "The substantial growth of these areas has also increased the demand for additional marketing and sales activities. Over the past three years, the volume of St. Paul Software's professional services has more than tripled and its EC Center has averaged 100 percent annual growth."

St. Paul announced the promotions of Carla Underwood, vice president of the EC Center, Joe Dalman, vice president of professional services, Barb Spiro, EC Center sales manager, Amy Spychalla, marketing manager, and Tom Grezek, sales and marketing engineer. Underwood moved up from marketing manager at St. Paul; Dalman was the director of professional services; Spiro was an EC Center account executive; Spychalla moved up within St. Paul Software's marketing communications department; and Grezek was a open systems regional sales manager for St. Paul Software before his promotion.

The company also announced its 1997 User Group Meeting will be held August 10-13 at The Hotel Sofitel in Bloomington Minnesota. For more information call 612.603.4400, or go to http://www.stpaulsoftware.com.

DTC Manager upgrade should arrive automatically
That OpenView DTC Manager upgrade we wrote about in our April issue should be arriving at any site that's using it and has a current support contract, according to HP. Jon Broz, a great source of information based in HP's Cleveland office, reports:

"DTCMGR 14.4 (D2355B) replaces both D2355A and 32048E(OpenView for Windows) products(i.e. D2355B includes 32048E). The bottom line is that anyone with a software support contract for DTCMGR should receive the 14.4 update automatically. One further note...support will only cover 14.3 and 14.4. If anyone has problems with prior versions, they will be asked to update before any escalation process takes place."

Meanwhile, systems management expert Gilles Schipper reported on the installation process, a task that had caused some problems for customers in the past:

"I just installed it yesterday [May 5] on a Windows95 PC. I did not convert previous versions of DTCMGR, although indications are that you can UPGRADE from versions 14.1, 14.2, or 14.3."

"One minor quirk. Several times, when shutting down my PC, I have gotten the famous GPF screen with a reference to "NMPRMP". No big deal, just a bit disconcerting."

"The installation is pretty straight-forward - though quite ambiguously documented in Chapter 2 of the "HP Open View DCT (sic) Manager User's Guide".

"I installed HPOPENVIEW, followed by DTCMGR. Since this was a Windows 95 installation, I dispensed with the FTP software installation - which I believe is still required if installing on a Windows for Workgroups PC. After the DTCMGR installation, you are required add to the PCMPRMP protocol to your network adapter prior to rebooting and running the new version for the first time.

I have not yet had the opportunity to put some industrial-strength load on the software, but several DTC downloads and resets appeared to work flawlessly."

"Since my NMMGR was still configured for PC-based management, I wasn't being presented that function key as an option. Turning off (N) the flag for "Are you using OpenView DTC Manager?" revealed the magic key."

"As soon as I can get my configurations synchronized, we will be dumping DTCMGR for good. Wheeee!!! Thanks also to HP for simplifying my life a little bit. I mean, sure, NMMGR is still a beast of a program with mind-numbing layers upon layers of screens, but at least now I don't have to rely on a flaky PC program to keep my DTCs in line. And I can go back to using TERMDSM so I won't have to run to the PC in the machine room any more just to do a port reset."

Another interesting track at the conference is "The Real World: Case Studies of Web Technologies," including reports on integrating MANMAN and data marts with the Web. Finally, Eugene Volokh of Vesoft (and also a professor of law at UCLA) will speak at the May 22 lunch on cyberspace law. To register, call SCRUG at 310. 820.6908, send e-mail to scrug@fdf.com or visit http://www.scrug.oesc.com

Get a one-day primer on High Availability
MARUG is hosting a spring meeting on May 22-23 in Norfolk, Va. and the May 22 day features an all-day training session on integration of the many High Availability solutions for the HP 3000. The topics include EMC Symmetrix arrays and using the HP's Shareplex distributed computing software, as well as using the new online maintenance functions of MPE/iX 5.5 to reduce downtime. The one-day fee for the training is just $100, and the training starts at 9AM with an HP strategic road map presentation from HP 3000 SWAT Team member Vince Clapps. To register, send a check to Greg Barnes of MARUG at Media General, PO Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293; you can call him at 804.649.6585.

Copyright 1997, The 3000 NewsWire. All rights reserved.