gauging interest in VAX 6000-530

Let's put it this way, said corporations livelyhood DEPENDS on those systems and thier stability and reliability. Wrong, what counts is that the computer can do the job that it needs to. That is why you'll still find systems such as the PDP-8 and PDP-11 still in service. That is also why most people don't need anything more than a 68k-based Macintosh. Let's see something like 90% of PC's run some varity of Microsoft Windows. That means that about 90% of PC's are unreliable. So yours don't crash? What about hardware? A VMS cluster is a lot more capable of handling dead hardware than any PC running UNIX. I'll admit, with good hardware, and running UNIX, or OS/2 you've got a pretty reliable system. I think we'll see that reliability increase as time passes and you start to see real clustering on PC's. If you want TRUE reliability though you'll either go with one of Compaq's OpenVMS or Tandem systems Let's see, on the VMS side, there is the question of reliability, you can't get much more reliable than a VMS Cluster. But VMS runs on Alpha's you say, well, not all apps have been ported. Then there is the question of which costs less, keeping these systems running, or converting to something new (this is both a hardware and software quesiton). If the current system does everything you need, why change? In some cases it makes sense to run old apps in an emulator on new hardware. Well, that's one point of view. However, it's starting to look like the trend is using those single-user systems as nothing more than intelligent terminals (which is basically what you're saying). And you've failed to stay current. Yes, but the 64-bit 21264 Alpha can beat any PC out there! If you need speed you switch to Alpha, if you don't there is no reason not to stick with VAX. BTW, I've got a letter I found today while cleaning up from Compaq commiting to support the VAX hardware for a MINIMUM of 10 more years through 2010. It's not like this is unsupported hardware. Where the PC has it made is cost. For a few hundred dollars you can build a pretty good, and fairly fast system, and load UNIX on it. It's hard to beat that. Zane | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator | | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast | | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |