Everhart, Glenn
From: hoffman@xdelta.enet.dec.com
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 1998 2:16 PM
To: Info-VAX@Mvb.Saic.Com
Subject: DECnet Phase IV Local-Transport Corruption Info
DIGITAL has discovered a situation where data corruption may arise
in the DECnet Phase IV products for OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS Alpha.
These corruptions can arise on local-node (on-node) transmissions
on systems with severe memory constraints, or with heavy paging and
swapping activitity. These corruptions do not occur on DECnet-Plus
(DECnet OSI) systems, and these corruptions do not arise in off-node
traffic (network traffic traveling between nodes) with DECnet Phase IV.
Additional details follow below...
The ECO kits mentioned in the message below are currently available.
-------------------------- pure personal opinion ---------------------------
Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman OpenVMS Engineering hoffman@xdelta.ZZenet.dec.com
note to those folks not contributing spam -- there is no ZZ in my address
--
Digital Equipment Corporation
Customer Alert: Solutions Available for DECnet for OpenVMS
(Phase IV) Problem
April 1998
Dear Customer:
DIGITAL has discovered a situation where data corruption might
occur during DECnet for
OpenVMS (DECnet Phase IV) local data transmit operations on
a node using the DECnet Phase IV product. This problem affects
only nodes running the DECnet Phase IV product; nodes running
DECnet-Plus or DECnet/OSI products are not affected.
This memo describes the problem, lists the DECnet Phase IV
versions affected, and proposes solutions to help you minimize
the risk to your OpenVMS VAX and Alpha environments.
Problem Description
Data corruption might occur during DECnet Phase IV local data
transmit operations. Systems with memory constraints or signif-
icant process management activity, such as heavy page swapping
because of a small working set, are most likely to experience
this problem. However, the potential exists for data corruption
on local DECnet Phase IV transmit operations for all OpenVMS VAX
and Alpha systems running Version 6.0 or later of OpenVMS. The
problem does not occur with DECnet on VMS Version 5.5-2.
DECnet Phase IV Versions Affected
The following DECnet Phase IV versions are affected by the data
corruption problem:
________________________________________________________________
Software
Product
DECnet for OpenVMS Description Associated Operating
(Phase_IV)_Version______(SPD)___________System_Version__________
DECnet for OpenVMS SPD 48.48.05 OpenVMS Version 7.1
Version 7.1 (Alpha and VAX). Full
support.
DECnet for OpenVMS SPD 48.48.04 OpenVMS Version 7.0
Version 7.0 (Alpha and VAX). Not
supported.
DECnet for OpenVMS SPD 48.48.03 OpenVMS Version 6.2
Version 6.2 (Alpha and VAX). Prior
version support.
DECnet for OpenVMS SPD 48.48.01 OpenVMS Version 6.1 (AXP
Version 6.1 (VAX) and VAX). Not supported.
SPD 42.25.02
(AXP)
DECnet for OpenVMS SPD 48.48.00 OpenVMS Version 6.0
Version 6.0 (VAX) (VAX). Not supported.
SPD 42.25.01 OpenVMS Version 1.5
________________________(AXP)___________(AXP)._Not_supported.___
To confirm the version of DECnet for OpenVMS software running on
your system, enter the following command:
$ MCR NCP SHOW EXECUTOR CHARACTERISTICS
Solutions for OpenVMS VAX Systems
If you are running DECnet Phase IV under OpenVMS VAX, you can
eliminate data corruption by implementing one of the following
solutions:
o Recommended solution: Install and run the DECnet-Plus or
DECnet/OSI for OpenVMS VAX (Phase V) product appropriate for
your system.
_____________________________________________________________
Software
DECnet-Plus or Product
DECnet/OSI for Description Associated Operating
OpenVMS_Version_________(SPD)___________System_Version_______
DECnet-Plus Version SPD 25.03.42 OpenVMS Version 7.1.
7.1 Full support.
OpenVMS Version 7.0.
Not supported.
DECnet/OSI Version SPD 25.03.38 OpenVMS Version
6.3 6.2. Prior version
support.
OpenVMS Version 6.1.
________________________________________Not_supported._______
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o Alternate solution: If the DECnet Phase IV for OpenVMS VAX
system has virtual balance slots enabled, set the system
parameter VBSS_ENABLE to 1 (thereby overriding the default
value of 3) to lock the page being accessed and mark it as
being used. This action will eliminate the data corruption
problem.
DIGITAL recommends that you use the command procedure
SYS$UPDATE:AUTOGEN.COM (AUTOGEN) to change system parameters.
For information about AUTOGEN, see the
OpenVMS System Manager's Manual: Tuning, Monitoring, and
Complex Systems.
Solutions for OpenVMS Alpha Systems
If you are running DECnet Phase IV under OpenVMS Alpha, you can
eliminate data corruption by implementing one of the following
solutions:
o Recommended solution: Install and run the DECnet-Plus or
DECnet/OSI for OpenVMS Alpha (Phase V) product appropriate
for your system:
_____________________________________________________________
Software
DECnet-Plus or DEC- Product
net/OSI for OpenVMS Description Associated Operating
Alpha_Version___________(SPD)___________System_Version_______
DECnet-Plus Version SPD 50.45.11 OpenVMS Version 7.1.
7.1 Full support.
OpenVMS Version 7.0.
Not supported.
DECnet/OSI Version SPD 50.45.07 OpenVMS Version
6.3 6.2. Prior version
support.
OpenVMS Version 6.1.
________________________________________Not_supported._______
o Alternate solution: Install a patch kit, which will disable
the local transmit code and eliminate the data corruption
problem. The patch kits are:
- DECNET4AECO171.A (DECnet for OpenVMS Version 7.1, for
OpenVMS Version 7.1)
- DECNET4AECO170.A (DECnet for OpenVMS Version 7.0, for
OpenVMS Version 7.0)
- DECNET4AECO262.A (DECnet for OpenVMS Version 6.3, for
OpenVMS Versions 6.1 and 6.2)
The original DECnet Phase IV software contains performance
enhancements for local copy operations. Installing the patch
may reduce the DECnet Phase IV data transfer performance
for local data transfer operations, but DECnet Phase IV
users should not notice this behavior except in those few
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environments where single system network operations are
heavily used.
If you prefer the patch solution, you can obtain the patch
kits from the following sources:
- DIGITAL Electronic Service Delivery Tools (such as
DSNlink, Web Information and Support Service (WIS), and
DIGITAL Dial-In Access (DIA))
- The World Wide Web at: http://www.service.digital.com/html/patch_
main.html
- FTP address: ftp://ftp.service.digital.com/public/vms/
Continued Support
For more information about the data corruption problem and its
solutions, contact your DIGITAL support representative.
DIGITAL appreciates your cooperation and patience, and we regret
any inconvenience this problem might cause.
DIGITAL does not warrant that the information contained in
this letter is necessarily accurate or complete for all user
situations and, consequently, DIGITAL will not be responsible
for any damages resulting from your use or disregard of the
information provided in this advisory letter.
©Digital Equipment Corporation. 1998. All Rights Reserved.
___________________
[TM] The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation:
AXP, DEC, DECnet, OpenVMS, VAX, VMS, and the DIGITAL logo.
[R] OSI is a registered trademark of CA Management, Inc.
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