Final version of ftScalable Best Practices White Paper
The final version of the “Best Practices for Configuring ftScalable Storage Arrays on OpenVOS Systems” is now available. It is posted on this blog and may also be found on the White Paper section of...
View ArticleStratus announces OpenVOS 17.1 and fourth generation V Series platforms
MAYNARD, Mass, May 10, 2011 – A journey that began nearly 30 years ago continues today for many Stratus customers with the release of Stratus OpenVOS 17.1, arguably the world’s most reliable operating...
View ArticleFourth generation V Series/OpenVOS 17.1 technical seminar
You are invited to attend a technical training seminar about the recently announced fourth generation V Series platform/OpenVOS 17.1 and Kona for OpenVOS. This session will explore the new V Series...
View ArticleV Series platform/OpenVOS 17.1 and Kona for OpenVOS Technical Seminar
Watch a technical training seminar about the recently announced fourth generation V Series platform/OpenVOS 17.1 and Kona for OpenVOS. This session will explore the new V Series hardware platforms as...
View ArticleHost name resolution, a whole new paradigm
Prior to 17.1 STCP would resolve host names by first querying any configured DNS and only if there was no response or a negative response from the name servers would it search the local hosts file....
View ArticleChanges in the STCP accept code may affect applications
Prior to VOS 17.1 STCP would not accept a TCP connection request unless the server application had called the accept function. Connection requests were placed in a backlog queue but no response was...
View ArticleThe amazing appearing/disappearing host routes
Over the last few weeks several people have asked me about routes that mysteriously appear and then disappear. For example route print Default Gateway: 10.10.10.1 Network Address Gateway Address Subnet...
View ArticleHow to pick a lousy password
It seems we live in an age where we have to think of new passwords every week. In the good old days, you could browse a web site, even order stuff, without having to create an identity first. Now,...
View ArticleStrange errors? The syserr log is your friend.
I recently diagnosed an apparent compiler problem for an OpenVOS customer. He has two modules running OpenVOS Release 17.1. He was able to succesfully compile a program on one of them, but the gcc...
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Ports of CMake, libxml2, libxslt, Python, Rsync, et al are available
I have recently ported several new or updated open-source packages to OpenVOS Release 17.1. They are now available on the VOS anonymous ftp site, at the following URL:...
View ArticleSharing the Load – Multiple Processes Listening on the Same Port Number
Under STCP when you have multiple processes listening on the same port number only the first process that bound to the port number is notified when a connection is requested. One common way to slip...
View ArticleMessage Queue Anomalies
The CAC is frequently asked to look into problems with VOS message queues. Here are a couple of interesting ones, along with some solutions and recommendations that I’d like to share with you. Problem...
View ArticleIssues with newly registered users and SSH
Recently there have been reports of problems getting newly registered users logged in when using SSH. The SysAdmin registers Alice and then has Alice try to login via SSH. Alice reports an...
View ArticlePorting Open Source Software to OpenVOS Technical Webinar
Details: Paul Green will give an overview of the steps that you can follow to port open-source code to the Stratus OpenVOS operating system. He will review the OpenVOS POSIX environment, explain how to...
View ArticleTechnical Webinar on Porting Open-Source code to OpenVOS
Did you miss the webinar? Well, we have the video right here for you! Watch an overview of the steps that you can follow to port open-source code to the Stratus OpenVOS operating system. I review the...
View ArticleYou don’t exist go away
I’ve been ignored by post office clerks, bank tellers, and shoe salesmen, but never a computer – until now. (master_disk)>system>openssl>bin>ssh nd@127.0.0.1 You don't exist, go away! ready...
View ArticleImplementing PCI Standards on VOS (LTS/OnGuard) Technical Webinar
Industry regulations have changed dramatically in the last 20 years. Sarbanes-Oxley, PCI, and HIPAA have put in place requirements for much tighter security and control of computer environments than...
View ArticleA (very) simple log server for VOS
The OpenVOS architecture makes use of several independent systems; the NIO for X25 communication, the fiber channel disk array controllers, UPS for power, the RSN Internet Console Server for RSN over...
View ArticleMaximum Transmission Unit (MTU) versus Maximum Segment Size (MSS)
I have noticed some confusion between the Ethernet Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) and the TCP Maximum Segment Size (MSS), hopefully the following will explain it. If you are still (or are now)...
View ArticleSSH keys: DSA versus RSA
On occasion, when explaining how to set up SSH’s public key authentication system, I am asked which is better, RSA or DSA keys. In the next few paragraphs I’ll attempt to answer that question. I’ll...
View ArticleDo you support left-handed widgets? Searching for solutions to technical...
I build products for a living. Often when I visit a Stratus customer, I’m asked a question of the form “Do you support left-handed widgets?” When I was a young, inexperienced engineer, I’d think for a...
View ArticleOpenVOS Network Application Performance Technical Webinar
Noah Davids, Support Engineer at Stratus discusses how application performance is affected by the network, the TCP stack and the application’s design. Covering common issues, how to test for them...
View ArticleHow active is that connection in the window?
The “netstat –interval X” command in releases prior to 17.0 will display a list of network connections every X seconds but you have no idea which if any of those connections are active or how active....
View ArticleVideo: Vos OSL Server Processes, How many do I really need?
The performance of applications that use cross module or cross system communication is dependent on having the correct number of OSL server processes running. Too few processes can dramatically slow...
View ArticleTaking the Scenic Route
Recently I dealt with a site that appeared to be having an issue with the link between their module and one of their Ethernet switches. As a test the system administrator, call him Fred, pinged the...
View ArticleTCP Backlog Capture
TCP Backlog capture is an effect that prevents a server application on the Stratus module listening on port X from successfully creating a connection with any client trying to connect to port X....
View ArticleSecuring the VOS Telnet Daemon
This talk will explain under what conditions it is safe to stop running the telnetd server and describe several approaches to prevent unwanted access to the module, via telnet, when it is not safe to...
View Articlepacket_monitor and the TCP options supported in OpenVOS 17.1
Starting with OpenVOS 17.1, STCP supports the time stamp, selective acknowledgment, and window scaling TCP options. This will allow for a more efficient data flow when TCP segments are dropped or when...
View ArticleSTCP’s Duplicate IP Address Detection
STCP has had duplicate IP address detection for quite some time but a change to how Microsoft Windows 2008 and 7 behave has added an interesting wrinkle. First let’s review how it works. Duplicate IP...
View ArticleThird Party Keep-Alives
I recently had a discussion with someone who had run afoul of their corporate firewall settings. The firewall will clear its state table of any connection that has been idle for over 10 minutes....
View ArticleThe Importance of -1
Don’t worry, despite the title I haven’t reverted to math nerd mode. The topic is not number theory but socket programming and a coding mistake that I have seen way too often. The code fragment in...
View ArticleHost versus Hosts
There has been a fair amount of confusion over the difference between the host file and hosts (plural) file. Both files should be in the >system>stcp directory but there the similarity ends. The...
View ArticleTelnet versus SSH
A lot of locations are mandating that you stop connecting to the system with Telnet, and use SSH instead. The rationale is greater security. When you log in using Telnet your password, as well as any...
View ArticleClone Wars
In this post I wish to discuss a common coding error that can result in a module running out of or at least seriously depleting the available number of stcp device clones for use in creating TCP...
View ArticleHow to access the graphical administrative interface of devices on the...
The maintenance network is used by OpenVOS for monitoring several devices including the RAID and SAN disk arrays. This network also allows you access for making configuration changes, debugging...
View ArticleWhat’s up with VOS structured files and POSIX programs?
If you have ever tried to use POSIX-based programs to process VOS structured files, you may have encountered some restrictions or seen some behavior that you didn’t understand. In this post I will try...
View ArticleUpdate to “Changes in the STCP accept code may affect applications”
About 18 months ago I wrote a blog talking about changes in how accept works in OpenVOS release 17.1. What I neglected to indicate was that these changes only take effect if the application code is...
View ArticleRemote Command Execution
Last week (well it was last week when I started writing this) we had an issue come into the CAC where someone wanted to write a command macro that ran telnet to log into a system and execute some...
View ArticleOpenVOS Release 17.2.0 is generally available!
I’m pleased to announce that OpenVOS Release 17.2.0, GNU Tools Release 4.0.0 and Kona for OpenVOS Release 1.1.0 are now generally available. All VOS V Series customers with a maintenance contract are...
View ArticleInconsistent success using public keys
Why is it that from my home directory I can use SSH with public key authentication to log into another host without being prompted for a password? ccd (home_dir) ready 14:24:53 display_current_dir...
View ArticlePotential enhancements to OpenVOS
Here is a short list of useful enhancements to OpenVOS that have been suggested by our customers. I’m interested in learning which of these ideas you think would be the most useful to you and your...
View ArticleFix the algorithm before you fix the code
When you are fixing bugs in existing code, it is easy to fall into the habit of finding the “mistake” in the code and adjusting the code to avoid the mistake. But if the root cause of the problem was a...
View ArticleHow much disk storage can a single VOS module handle?
Today, a customer asked me how much disk storage a single VOS module can address. Here is my response. The per-disk (actually, per LUN) storage limit for all V Series releases is 8.7 TB. A single VOS...
View ArticleUsing a modern copier as a line printer
Does your office have a modern photocopier? One that accepts output via TCP/IP? If so, you can probably configure the OpenVOS spooler to send files to it. Here’s how. The feature that the copier needs...
View ArticleSecurity Updates for Open-Source Software
I was recently asked why Stratus was not providing security updates for customers running OpenSSL on releases of VOS prior to 17.0, when we are still providing updates to customers running OpenSSL on...
View ArticleNew password encryption algorithms are coming!
Starting in OpenVOS Release 18.0, VOS System Administrators will be able to select one of 3 new password encryption algorithms. This post provides an overview of these changes. The existing, legacy VOS...
View ArticleConsidering an “atomic clock”?
Recently, a customer wrote to Stratus Customer Service to ask whether we could recommend an “atomic clock” for use with his OpenVOS system. It seems that this customer does not have access to an NTP...
View ArticleUsing 64-bit Stream Files
VOS stream files are limited in growth to about 2 GB. This is because the definition of interfaces such as s$seq_position, s$get_port_status, s$lock_region, etc. use signed 32-bit variables to indicate...
View ArticleUsing a File-based Sharable Address Space
VM regions are often used as sharable address spaces in VOS applications. This is a very efficient way of allowing multiple processes to access the same set of addresses. The main disadvantage is that...
View ArticleSage advice from a graybeard!
I came across an article on networkworld.com, by Peter Wayner, titled “7 Timeless Lessons of Programming ‘graybeards’”. Since I’m something of a graybeard myself, I read it. Peter discusses several...
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