Hoff

Joined 18 years ago

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www.hoffmanlabs.com

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TeamViewer service breach, client hijacking reported theregister.co.uk

5 Hoff 10 years ago 0 comments

The Dangers of the Burr Encryption Bill zdziarski.com

1 Hoff 10 years ago 0 comments

Comment · 10 years ago

Not a surprise. There's a lot of that stuff around, on OpenVMS. There are new systems — yes, using BASIC on OpenVMS — being installed, too.

There are new Itanium servers with support added last year, another (final) generation is planned, and — in preparation for the end of Itanium — an OpenVMS port to x86-64 is presently underway, and there's a new OpenVMS release (for Itanium) is scheduled to arrive this March.

https://vmssoftware.com/products.html

Comment · 10 years ago

There are presently OpenVMS servers and clusters in production in a number of locations, and new configurations are being installed — primarily for existing applications, obviously.

The most recent OpenVMS release shipped in June 2015, and the next release is due to ship in March 2016.

There's a port to x86-64 underway, as well.

For those looking for hardware for hobbyist use, used Integrity Itanium servers are usually cheaper than used working Alpha and VAX gear, and newer — working VAX and Alpha gear has become more expensive in recent years. Various VAX and Alpha emulators are available, either as open source or available to hobbyists at no cost.

Comment · 10 years ago

Interesting article. Rather than arguing what can or cannot be done or what might or might not work, here's some code, and some history.

Here's full-mixed-language programmable, locally- and fully-remote-debuggable, mixed-user and inner-mode processing unikernel, and with various other features...

This from 1986...

http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/vax/vaxeln/2.0/VA...

FWIW, here's a unikernel thin client EWS application that can be downloaded into what was then an older system, to make it more useful for then-current X11 applications...

From 1992...

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/info/SP3368/SP3368PF.PDF

Anybody that wants to play and still has a compatible VAX or that wants to try the VCB01/QVSS graphics support in some versions of the (free) SIMH VAX emulator, the VAX EWS code is now available here:

http://www.digiater.nl/openvms/freeware/v50/ews/

To get an OpenVMS system going to host all this, HPE has free OpenVMS hobbyist licenses and download images (VAX, Alpha, Itanium) available via registration at:

https://h41268.www4.hp.com/live/index_e.aspx?qid=24548&desig...

Yes, this stuff was used in production, too.

Comment · 11 years ago

For those interested in the old Burroughs stuff, the folks at Unisys have announced a hobbyist program for the ClearPath MCP Express systems:

http://www.unisys.com/offerings/high-end-servers/clearpath-f...

Comment · 11 years ago

FWIW, the top-end HPE SSD models are rated for up to 25 writes of the entire SSD drive, per day, for five years.

The entry-level SSDs are rated for ~two whole-drive writes per week.

Wear gage, et al.

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF%2Easpx%2F4AA4%2D7186ENW%...

Comment · 11 years ago

In no particular order...

OpenVMS and NonStop (NSK) do not compete. Entirely different products and markets.

VMS Software Inc (VSI) have licensed OpenVMS from HPE. They've not acquired the product.

The company was newly formed, not a spin-off of HP.

VSI have been circumspect on their x86-64 release schedule.

The team includes many of the same development folks that ported OpenVMS from Alpha to Itanium.

OpenVMS I64 Itanium software list prices are unchanged from those of HPE. Whether and how much the VSI sales reps might be discounting, you'd have to ask them.

Comment · 11 years ago

From the FAQ: "A regular "Who Is Hiring?" thread appears on the first weekday of each month. Most job ads are welcome there." Some will accept remote workers.

There's also a Freelancer thread.

The November threads, for reference: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10492086 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10492087

Comment · 11 years ago

Thanks.

re: "those days" — FWIW, those days are still ongoing. The latest OpenVMS release shipped out in June 2015, and the native port to x86-64 is underway.

Comment · 11 years ago

While the term unikernel is fairly recent,the basic concept goes back a long time.

One example of this general design is VAX ELN.

The following is a brochure from the V2.2 release, from 1986:

http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/vax/vaxeln/2.0/VA...

Compile and then link the application code with the particular pieces of the toolkits that you needed and with the provided kernel into a single download image, and either embed or boot or network boot the target box using it. Remote debugging was available, as well as a relational database, etc.