From:	CSBVAX::CSBVAX::MRGATE::"SMTP::CRVAX.SRI.COM::RELAY-INFO-VAX" 22-JAN-1989 12:36
To:	MRGATE::"ARISIA::EVERHART"
Subj:		VAXstation tuning.


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Date:		12-JAN-1989 10:40:34 GMT +01:00
From:		MACALLSTR%vax1.physics.oxford.ac.uk@NSS.Cs.Ucl.AC.UK
To:		info-VAX <@NSS.Cs.Ucl.AC.UK:info-VAX@kl.sri.com>
Subject:	VAXstation tuning.
Sender:         John_Macallister <MACALLSTR%vax1.physics.oxford.ac.uk@NSS.Cs.Ucl.AC.UK>
From:           John_Macallister <MACALLSTR%vax1.physics.oxford.ac.uk@NSS.Cs.Ucl.AC.UK>
X-Info:         Nuclear Physics Lab,Keble Rd,Oxford OX1 3RH. Phone+44-865-273388
X-Info2:        Fax +44-865-273418. Telex 83295 NUCLOX G.

The same rules apply to VAXstation tuning as to the tuning of other systems 
 i.e. use AUTOGEN to give you a good first guess; then follow any additional
 guidelines from the installation guides and finally make adjustments based
 on observed behaviour.

A few points may be noted to avoid catastrophic failures on VAXstations.
 (1) Ensure that your paging file is adequate. You may have the impression
    that disk space is being wasted but, if the VAXstation has to page heavily,
    especially if it's a diskless VAXstation, you'll see it grind to a halt.
 (2) Make sure that the VWS parameters ( usually set up via logical names ) are
    adequate for your VAXstation ( e.g. have you enough reserved memory to
    support the number of windows you wish to have ?).
 (3) Make sure that you include the requirements of any packages ( e.g. CAD/CAM
    packages can make heavy demands on memory for good performance ) in the
    tuned parameters.

VAXstations are easy to install through the use of automatic procedures and it
 is very easy to get one up and running. However, if you don't pay attention to
 the above points, you may find yourself chasing 'red herrings' ( non-existent
 bugs in packages ) later.

If you've run out of disk space on the boot node and don't have a local disk
 on your VAxstation you may be interested to know that a diskless VAxstation
 may page from a disk attached to any other VAXstation in the cluster. This can
 easily be achieved ( details for VMS 4.7 ) by doing the following:

    remove SYS$SPECIFIC:[SYSEXE]PAGEFILE.SYS
    remove SYS$SPECIFIC:[SYSEXE]SATELLITE_PAGE.COM
    create SYS$SPECIFIC:[SYSMGR]SYPAGSWPFILES.COM
     containing
                $ WAIT 00:00:10
                $ MOUNT/CLUSTER <details>
                $ WAIT 00:00:10
                $ SYSGEN INSTALL <pagfiledetails>/PAGEFILE

The file SYPAGSWPFILES.COM is automatically executed st system startup at
 the correct time. You will then have a VAXstation with one (primary) pagefile
 on a disk attached to another VAXstation.


I hope fellow clusterers will find these comments useful.

John