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._______ 2 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 3 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. 4