WVNET in the Late '80s

January 1985

The central site VAXen were given access to BITNET via the Jnet software. Their BITNET node names were WVNVAXA, WVNVAXB, WVNVAXD, and WVNVAXE.

May 1985

The four central site VAXen were put in a VAXcluster running VMS V4.0. This created a single image system which allowed users on any VAX in the cluster to share programs and data on any other central site VAX. Cluster-wide batch and print queues were implemented which allowed load balancing for batch and print operations. A shared User Authorization File allowed all VAX accounts to be valid on any VAX in the cluster rather than only on a particular VAX.

August 1985

We installed MVS/XA SP 2.1.2. This new version of MVS (with "eXtended Architecture") was installed to relieve virtual storage limitations caused by CICS and ADABAS. With the installation of MVS/XA, users were no longer restricted to 16 megabyte address spaces. MVS/XA allowed each user to potentially address 2 gigabytes of virtual memory, and provided many performance advantages when used with the new 3380 DASD. WVNET also converted from CICS 1.5 to CICS 1.6 during the move to MVS/XA.

November 1985

WVNET began running X.25 communication protocol support in its 3705 and 4705 communications controllers. WVNET planned to convert much of its communications network to X.25 over the next year.

December 1985

This was a busy month at the central site. An IBM 3081GX computer was installed at WVNET. MVS/XA was moved from the 3081D to the more powerful 3081GX, a 12.5 MIPS machine with 32 megabytes of main storage. Since one of the major problems with MVS/XA had been the increase in paging, the addition of 16 megabytes improved MVS performance a great deal. The Amdahl V/7A was retired from service and VM was moved to the 3081D. This doubled the CPU cycles and storage available to VM. The VM system was upgraded to VM/SP 4 to allow a conversion to a VTAM network for all IBM terminal access.

January 1986

VTAM was installed on the WVNET's VM system. This was the next step in creating a common VTAM network for all IBM terminal access. It would be some months before users were exposed to this new software. WVNET completed the upgrade of communications for the northern part of the state to 56KB digital lines. This was a major step in providing better communications for the institutions.

February 1986

An improved version of our VAX/VMS BITNET software, Jnet, was installed on the VAXcluster. This new version of Jnet features an improved user interface and support for both CMS DISK DUMP and NETDATA format files.

March 1986

WVNET completed the installation of a T1 high speed digital communication line between Morgantown and Charleston. The purpose of the T1 line is to provide 56KB digital service to institutions in the southern part of the state and some voice circuits between Morgantown and Charleston. VTAM became the production access method for 3270 access to the VM system. Work was still in progress to convert all ASCII line to the IBM system to X.25 and route them through VTAM.

August 1986

Personal Services/370 and DISOSS/370 were installed on the 3081GX. DISOSS will be used to support the exchange of revisable documents across widely varying environments within WVNET. Personal Services/370 provides electronic mail and document handling for users of 3270-type terminals. An online information system called WVNFO, based on Cornell University's CUINFO, was installed on CMS and shortly afterward on VAX and Wylbur.

October 1986

WVNET installed a new computer output microfiche (COM) device -- a DatagraphiX AUTOCOM-11 recorder. The new device allows online COM output. Over the next few months, we phased out our old (DatagraphiX 4530) COM equipment and phased in this new recorder. We informed MVS users that all datasets on this system must be cataloged by January, 1987. This was done to simplify the management of MVS datasets and to allow a smooth conversion to 3380 disk drives, forthcoming next January.

January 1987

The IBM 3081GX was upgraded to an IBM 3081KX with 48 megabytes of memory. STC 3380 disk drives were installed, and WVNET began to coordinate the migration of user datasets from our old 3350 disk drives to the 3380s. Wylbur was converted to use X.25.

February 1987

WVNET completed the conversion from 3350s to 3380 DASD on our IBM systems. Users were informed that 3350 disk drives would be removed from service in March. Version 3.0 of Jnet was installed on the VAXcluster. The new version does a better job of seeing the cluster as a single environment versus individual computers. WVNET announced the general availability of 7171 protocol converters to allow ASCII terminals to emulate full-screen terminals on our IBM systems.

March 1987

WVNET encouraged Wylbur users to convert to using "partitioned datasets" (PDSs) when creating and storing their data; in August, the use of PDSs would be mandatory. We announced the general availability of an IBM 3820 (laser) Page Printer newly installed at the central site. This printer produces camera-ready output of near-typeset quality. We installed enhanced NOTE and NOTELIST commands on CMS as the first step in the direction of a revised and greatly enhanced WVMAIL electronic mail facility on CMS. WVMAIL Version 2 was made available for testing later in the month.

May 1987

Software Valley Corporation's VAX-11/780 was installed as a member of the WVNET VAXcluster, designated SVC. CICS/MRO was installed on MVS. MRO allowed transparent access to other CICS partitions from a single centralized partition, so WVNET CICS users were no longer required to logon to specific CICSes to run particular applications. This move improved the performance of CUFS and NATURAL.

June 1987

The Software Valley VAX was connected to our DCA communications equipment: any WVNET user with a valid VAX account could now access this machine. We installed and tested Digital's X.25 communications software on the cluster; this software will be used to connect the forthcoming WVNET VAX upgrade to the DCA communications equipment. We also installed Carnegie-Mellon University's TCP/IP communications software for use on the WVNET VAXcluster. This software will be used to give our VAX users access to SURAnet, a regional data communications network established under a grant by the National Science Foundation to the Southeastern University Research Association (SURA). SURAnet connects users in twelve southeastern states and the District of Columbia, and also provides gateways to a world-wide system of networks called the Internet. Through the special communication protocols of SURAnet, WVNET users will be able to access national supercomputing centers and actually log into, and transfer data to and from, any one of thousands of computers in the Internet.

July 1987

We converted WVU to CO Lan (Central Office Lan) as the first step in a conversion to ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) in 1988. CO Lan enables data over voice communications on a single phone line.

August 1987

The WVU Human Resources and Education department's VAX-11/785 computer system was connected to the WVNET DECnet network. This allows them to communicate with other WVNET users via electronic mail and to transfer files between the various systems. The IBM 7171 Protocol Converters were upgraded to accept any parity on input and to output space parity (i.e., no parity). Two new terminal types were also added (ROLM3720 and IBM316X). As part of our preparations for a conversion to full duplex ASCII access to the central site, we implemented a new DCA destination, IBM2, to allow half duplex access for SIMPC users. Wylbur system changes were made to make the use of partitioned dataset mandatory on Wylbur public disk volumes WYL001, WYL002, WYL003 (and WYL004 -- a new volume added to support the PDS conversion effort).

September 1987

Two new VAX super-minicomputers -- a VAX 8550 and a VAX 8650 -- were installed this month to upgrade our VAXcluster. Each of these machines was designed to support 200+ simultaneous users; together they are able to support twice as many users as the four VAX 11/780 computers they replaced. The 8550 went into production soon after it was installed; the 8650 would go production shortly. An Ethernet LAN (Local Area Network) was installed at the central site. This network will be used to tie together all of the new VAXes which are being installed at each institution as part of the Student Information System (SIS) upgrade. It will also connect the WVU campus to WVNET via WVU's microwave communications system.

October 1987

We installed system software on the new VAX 8250 computers at five colleges: Bluefield State, Fairmont State, Glenville State, West Virginia State, and Southern Community College. These VAXes will replace the PDP/11's at these institutions. Version 4.6 of the VAX/VMS operating system was installed on the central site VAXcluster. We began using LISTSERV software for electronic distribution lists for several groups and committees.

November 1987

We installed system software on the new VAX 8250 computers at Potomac State and West Liberty State Colleges, and on the new VAX 8530 computer at West Virginia Institute of Technology. We also installed system software on Marshall University's new 8700 VAX computer, and integrated it with their VAX 11/785 computer to form a VAXcluster. The ORACLE database system and a test copy of the new student information system was installed on the central site VAXcluster. We finished installing a DX20 tape drive adapter on the VAX 8650; this adapter allowed our ten IBM-compatible 8650 tape drives to be used from the central site VAXcluster. We installed MVS DFP 2.2, which added improved functions to the MVS operating system and freed about 1 megabyte of virtual memory.

January 1988

WVNET installed the Jnet communications package at several state colleges. Jnet will provide a connection from the local VAXes to both BITNET and the world-wide system of networks called the Internet. The BANNER student information system was installed at Marshall, Bluefield, and Concord. Interlink communications hardware and software was installed at the central site to permit IBM users to log into the network VAXes, and DEC users to log onto the WVNET IBM computers. PMDF mail delivery software was installed on the central site VAXcluster. This provides electronic mail transfer between SURAnet, BITNET, the WVNET IBM machines, and the local VAXes. A test version of Sigma's SAMS financial aid software was installed on the central site VAXcluster.

February 1988

WVNET installed VAX 8250 computers and Ethernet LANs at Parkersburg and Northern Community College. A VAXserver 100 was installed at the central site to provide BITNET access, Remote Job Entry to WVNET IBM systems, and IBM terminal emulation for users of the new VAX computers at the local institutions. Vitalink communication hardware was installed at several institutions. An AT&T System 75 PBX was installed at the central site.

March 1988

An ARPANET domain name for WVNET (.WVNET.EDU) was registered with BITNET and the ARPANET agency. The Data Communications group put up the new DCA operating system, Version 4.10, which supports the new high speed (64Kbps) X.25 links to the new VAXes.

April 1988

We installed an Ethernet local area network backbone cable in the WVNET central site building. The cable runs the length of the building and will be used to connect the WVU microwave Ethernet connection to WVNET's statewide Ethernet. We set up a Domain mail gateway on the WVNET VAXcluster. When the gateway is fully operational, users on the worldwide Internet communications network (which includes BITNET, SURAnet, ARPANET, EARN, CSNET, MILNET, and other networks) will be able to send electronic mail to any user on any of the WVNET and institutional computer systems. All MVS accounts were defined to the Top Secret Security System. This eliminates our requirement to support the old online-account-file security, and positions us for implementation of an integrated Top Secret security system on both MVS and VM.

May 1988

We installed the first general release of the BANNER student information system on the WVNET VAXcluster and at West Virginia State College. Release 1.0 is the first release which is available for use by all WVNET institutions. We installed the ORACLE relational database management system, SQL*GRAPH, SQL*CALC, and EASY*SQL on the Software Valley VAX at WVNET. This software, donated by the ORACLE corporation to the Software Valley Corporation, is available for use by all WVNET users as well as members of Software Valley. We also began the installation of a WVNET Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) which will improve reliability of WVNET computer systems substantially.

Not Your Father's UPS Too large to fit easily beside a desk, an Uninterruptable Power Supply building is shown being lowered into place by crane outside of WVNET's machine room.

June 1988

WVNET joined IBM's Higher Educational Software Consortium (HESC). Our membership will reduce the cost of IBM software and allow us to expose our users to a great deal of new IBM software. We installed a high-speed communications card and the Jnet BSC Assist software on the MicroVAX II computer at WVNET. The card and software provide the Remote Job Entry function between the WVNET IBM systems and the VAX computer systems installed as part of the student information system upgrade. We connected the recently completed microwave communications link between WVU and WVNET to the WVNET Ethernet communications network. The microwave link provides a T1 data transfer rate of 1.54 million bits of information per second.

July 1988

Memorex 3480 cartridge tape drives were installed and operational. These new devices will provide our users with faster and more reliable data storage. Department of Natural Resources in Elkins is now using a link between WVNET and the West Virginia Information System Service Department (ISSD). They are the first users of this connection. Our SURAnet connection is now completely operational. We began to upgrade our old 300 baud modems with 42 new modems which are capable of handling 300, 1200 and 2400 baud connections.

August 1988

We installed Version 5.0 of the VMS operating system on the Local Area VAXcluster (LAVC) at WVNET. We also increased the speed of the Jnet high speed card from 19.2kb to 64kb. The IBM 3745 communications controller was installed and fully operational; conversion was completed and the old 3705 and 4705 were ready for retirement. Our first shipment of HESC software arrived from IBM. The VM & MVS backup systems were converted to use the new 3480 tape cartridges.

September 1988

We implemented Top Secret/VM, and began initial testing of our new CA-1 tape management system.

October 1988

We installed Mailer Version 2, and began to test the Mailer to Internet gateway (SMTP). We installed VM TCP/IP, which allow VM/CMS users to communicate with, logon to, and send files to computers all over the world. We installed VMTAPE on the IBM 3081D, and installed the VAX LISP computer language on the WVNET VAXcluster.

November 1988

We installed and tested a trial copy of Innovations IAM product, a "VSAM accelerator" for MVS. This product will be used to improve performance and reduce space used by CUFS. We added MX record lookup support to the TCP/IP software on the WVNET VAXcluster. MX support allows VAX electronic mail to be delivered directly to many locations instead of taking a long indirect route.

December 1988

We installed the FUSION TCP/IP communications package on one of the MicroVAX 2000 computers at the central site. The TCP/IP on this machine now provides the Internet nameserver for the WVNET domain, which improves the reliability of our SURAnet connection. We installed IBM's PROFS (Professional Office System) electronic mail system under VM/CMS. User tests will begin in January.

January 1989

We converted the format of our VM userids from VMnnnn to Unnnn. The conversion was almost entirely completed this month; the few remaining old-format userids will be converted by June.

February 1989

We installed the NCAR Graphics package on the WVNET VAXcluster. This package is a collection of Fortran programs and subroutines which can be used to generate and plot computer graphics. We installed Thinwire Ethernet in the WVNET central site building and attached it to the statewide Ethernet. We installed ORACLE Version 6 and ORACLE TPO on the WVNET VAXcluster for use with the BANNER student information system.

March 1989

We ordered VM/XA SP 2 from IBM. This major upgrade to our VM operating system is scheduled to be implemented this summer. A network job entry link to ISSD was added to JES2. This allows WVNET's PROFS users to exchange mail with ISSD users. We installed version 5.1 of the VMS operating system on the WVNET VAXcluster. This release corrected a number of problems with the previous version and provided operating system support for DECwindows.

April 1989

We installed REXSQL and QMF from the IBM HESC on our VM system, and installed Diskeeper on the central site VAXcluster. The latter package is used to defragment and compress files on disk drives.

May 1989

IBM 3270 users can now logon to the VAXes via INTERLINK; the VTAM resource name is DECNET. We made 3480 tape cartridges available on MVS, installed a Modula-2 compiler on our VAXcluster, and installed the SAM Financial Aids Needs Analysis package at several campus sites.

June 1989

Various hardware attached to the IBM mainframes was moved to different channels. We made these changes to improve performance and to prepare for the attachment of additional DASD and 3480 tape drives that we'll be getting in the near future. We moved the 4305 paging devices to VM. We added 16 Megabytes of main storage to the 3081D to prepare for an upgrade of our VM operating system to IBM's latest version of this system, VM/XA SP 2 (Virtual Machine/eXtended Architecture System Product, Release 2).

July 1989

We converted MVS Top Secret to FAIL Mode, installed VMTAPE on VM, and began experimenting with auto-restore of datasets on MVS and storage volumes. We also began to upgrade the campus VAXes to Version 5.1 of VMS; these upgrades were required to support the MicroVAX 3900s which will soon replace the VAX 8250s at these sites.

August 1989

We installed the first 30 gigabytes of new STC triple capacity 3380 disk drives; we have migrated from 16 single density drives to these new disk drives. When the second 30 gigabytes are installed, we will have a total of 85 gigabytes of DASD space on the IBM systems. We also installed eight STC 3480 tape drives (doubling our 3480 tape capacity) and and added 1.6 Gigabytes of disk space to our VAXcluster. We deinstalled the central site PDP-11/44. WVNET joined DEC's Campuswide Software License Grant (CSLG) program and began to distribute agreements to each of our member institutions.

September 1989

We installed the second string of 30 gigabytes of STC DASD on our IBM systems, and tested a "staged archive" system, where datasets on MVS DASD are archived in a compressed form to other disks from which they can be restored by auto-recall. We moved 21 communications lines from the old DCP/40 to the new DCP/50 communications controller. We initiated the process of adding Alderson-Broaddus College to DEC's Campuswide Software License Grant program.

October 1989

VM/XA SP 2 became our production VM system on Monday, Oct 16; this is a very different operating system than the previous releases of VM. WVNET began testing of MVS/XA under VM/XA. We also began the process of adding West Virginia Wesleyan College to Digital's CSLG program. Parkersburg Community College recently became West Virginia University at Parkersburg, so we changed their BITNET node name from WVNPCC to WVNWVUP. Additional line modules were received from Unisys to fully populate the DCP/50. We now have enough high-speed line modules to accomodate the SNA network plan (one each to WVNET, Ruby Memorial Hospital, and University Health Associates). WVNET is in the process of implementing the T1 RFP.

November 1989

WVNET distributed version 6.0 of the ORACLE relational database system to the institutional computer centers. Then VMNET software was installed. We began to work on replacing our BITNET line to Ohio State with a TCP/IP high speed connection. This software will also be used to connect the VAXes via TCP/IP rather than via bisync lines. A T1 line has been installed between Morgantown and the University of Maryland.

December 1989

WVNET worked with WVU to get their new IBM AS/400 computer on line and in production. There were a few communication problems but they were fixed. The first draft of user documentation for use of STORAGE volumes on MVS was prepared. Software was written to manage the storage pool using FDRABR archiving. The first field test of JNET's VMNET software was installed on the central site VAXcluster. This software allows the BITNET link between VM and the VAXcluster to use a TCP/IP connection across the Ethernet instead of a dedicated low speed line.