As we say farewell to 1984 and welcome 1985, it is clear that this edition of FORUM appears at a time of other comings and goings. MVS is about to come in and the FR80 is about to go out. News on both appears in this issue. On the same theme, Dr Brian Davies has come in as SERC's Director, Computing and the ELECTRIC filestore is on its way out.
We publish the first letter for some time; will this lead to a regular Letters to the Editor column? Do write to us more often, we like to hear your views of the service we provide.
There are reports from several meetings; these include the GEC, Prime and VAX User Group Meetings, the DEC10 User Meeting, a report on the PERQ PNX User Forum, as well as the Central Computer Reps Meeting, which was livelier than usual. These meetings form an important role in the support of each machine, enabling users to get together and talk directly to those who provide the service. It is heartening when these meetings are well attended and lively.
May I take this opportunity, on behalf of the FORUM editorial team (Ros Hallowell, Jacky Hutchinson, Bob Maybury and myself), to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous (and bug-free!) New Year.
The Meeting welcomed Dr Brian Davies in his capacity as Director, Computing.
The main points to arise at the meeting were:-
Many of you may have heard of the European Academic Research Network (EARN) and wondered what is, what use it is, can I use it and why does it seem so unavailable.
First some background. There is a network in the States called BITNET which is formed from interconnecting IBM computers with leased lines. The protocol used is the IBM RSCS protocol and, in fact, any computers offering this protocol can join the network. The network relies on the fact that the RSCS protocols can be used for 'staging' files from machine to machine until a destination is reached. Thus the network provides a file transfer and mail service. The network is very popular in the States and some 200 or more machines are connected. IBM's corporate network, VNET, is based on the same idea.
In late 1983 IBM generously offered to finance a European network based on the same idea and christened it EARN. They offered to pay for the lines, modems and some other hardware for a period of four or five years. It had been hoped to get the network operational by the new year. The network is run by a Board of Directors with an academic representative from each country.
The plan is to link various key European sites in a backbone network and for each country to develop a network around their national site. In the case of the UK the site is Rutherford Laboratory. In the UK it has been decided that Rutherford should be the only EARN site but that a gateway should be developed between EARN and JANET to allow file transfer and MAIL traffic. The EARN network is connected to BITNET via a line between Rome and City University New York.
Unfortunately the network involves 'third party switching' of data which is illegal in most European countries and thus special permission has had be sought from the PTTs. Eventually CEPT (the European PTT advisory body) considered EARN and while they are likely to agree to allowing it, wish to impose a few conditions. These conditions require the network to migrate to the use of ISO protocols and the use of public networks within the next four years. The EARN Board of Directors are sympathetic to these requirements. A further complication is that the PTTs are unsure of what tariff to apply and are thinking in terms of a volume related one. This is not the end of the negotiations since each of the PTTs now has to be persuaded to issue a license. You must remember that CEPT is only an advisory body. In the UK the Board of Directors member is busy encouraging DTI to issue a license. He is also busy attempting to encourage BT to allow connections and at a low tariff.
Currently the network is half built. The Rome to New York, Madrid and Heifa lines are working. The CERN to Rome, Paris, Dusseldorf and Rutherford are almost in, as is the Dublin to Rutherford one. Unfortunately the lines to Rutherford cannot be used without BT and DTI approval. In Germany some 50 machines are already connected. In other countries less progress has been made and far fewer connections are expected. As well as the countries already mentioned connections are expected to Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Finland. By now you will have realized why there has been a long delay and what sort, of service you can expect when it all come to fruition. I am the UK EARN Board of Directors member and I am happy to provide further information.
The VAX (VMS) User Group met at Garrick House in London on Thursday 11 September. The meeting was well attended with seventeen sites represented. Geoff Smith of RAL's High Energy Physics Division and Bill Pulford of Neutron Division talked about their respective archiving systems - one disk-based and the other using tape. Mike Jane then spoke on the RAL Computing Divisions' reorganisation, something he must by now be used to doing. Sue Weston presented Steve Yip's status report on VAX networking and discussion of this provided input for the afternoon meeting with Ray Jones of DEC'S Network and Communications Team from the UK Technical Support Group at Basingstoke.
The meeting expressed concern over support of coloured book software on Vaxes, particularly the UWTST FTP. The chairman agreed to take up the matter with the JNT.
The twelfth meeting of the RAL-supported GEC User Group was held at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on 6 November 1984. There were 9 users present, a disappointing turnout for a User meeting which is held only twice a year.
The main topics discussed were:-
The "Needs of Engineering Computing" Working Party will hold its third meeting on 18 December. A sub-group of the GEC User Group was established to meet with this Working Party prior to its December meeting.
Resource Management procedures are being revised. ICF site managers will be responsible for commenting on grant applications, setting-up usernames and AU allocations.
A representative for GEC Computers Ltd accepted an invitation to attend part of the meeting, to answer user questions on a number of specific software and hardware related items.
The User Group reviewed the priorities which it had attached to future software developments at a special User Group meeting earlier this year.This was the last GEC User Group Meeting under the Chairmanship of Dr John Baldwin. The User Group thanked John for his enthusiastic support, and wished him continuing success in his other commitments. A warm welcome was extended to the new Chairman Anne MacKinnon.
The Prime User Group met at Garrick House, London on 8 November 1984 where 21 users attended. The major points were:-
A Central Computing Representatives' Meeting was held at RAL on November 1st. Sixty user representatives attended with the majority from off the site. The chairman reported that he was retiring after nearly three years. His successor is Peter Negus from Glasgow.
Paul Thompson, the head of User Support and Marketing Group, outlined the changes in Central Computing. These were covered in the July/August edition or Forum. Paul thanked Graham for his contribution as the first user chairman of the CCRM. He expressed the opinion that Graham would be most remembered for the innovation of the straw poll.
Dr Brian Davies who is the new head of Central Computing Division gave the meeting a report on the current position.
Brian outlined the terms of reference, membership and recommendations of the Computing Review Working Party chaired by Professor A G J Macfarlane. These have been described in previous editions of FORUM so it is not necessary to repeat them here.
One of the recommendations, that a full-time Director, Computing should be appointed, has been carried out and Dr Davies has been appointed to this role The CCC has agreed to become an advisory body to the Director, Computing.
The details of what is included in the infrastructure are still being worked on. Although charging provoked discussion there was no consensus from the meeting either in favour or as to an alternative method of funding central computing.
The possible provision of a Super Computer is to be the subject of a joint Computer Board and Research Council Working Party.
Plans for the purchase of new equipment were outlined. These were divided between items needed now and those which we expect will be needed in the near future.
Equipment for which a case will be made as soon as possible.
Further into the future depending on the availability of funds.
The final session for the morning was devoted to MVS. John Gordon from User Support and Marketing outlined the timetable for the transition and the changes needed immediately. This item is reported elsewhere.
The afternoon was taken up with the general meeting. Points of interest were:
The meeting was quite lively with more attendees than usual. If you were unable to be present but have views on any of the issues discussed we would be delighted to hear them. Why not write a letter to the Editor of FORUM?
Readers of the Graphics Supplement published with the July/August edition of FORUM will be aware of the details of the plan to replace the FR80. Work is at an advanced stage and trials of the system are taking place at the time of writing. These consist of parallel running of the FR80 with both the XEROX 8700 laser printer (hardcopy) and NCR 5330 fiche recorder (microfiche). This allows the output produced by the old and new systems to be compared and any differences corrected. This trial system, like the final version, does not require any changes to user programs or JCL - the system performs the rerouting to the new devices. The trial system copes with all FR80 output routed via the IBM Central Computing system but does not deal with FR80 tapes sent to RAL by post.
During December - if no problems are apparent - the FR80 will be withdrawn from service.
The Graphics Supplement explained that the new hardware devices did not cater for film output or graphics on microfiche. It suggested that film would be handled through an arrangement with ULCC and graphics fiche would be processed under a contract with the Stock Exchange. Unfortunately there have been snags in both these areas.
The problems encountered with graphics fiche are believed to be understood and further trials are taking place at the Stock Exchange to ensure that it will be operationally possible to run a service for output generated at RAL. We hope that there will be no interval between the closure of the FR80 and the start of a service at the Stock Exchange but cannot guarantee it. If the non-availability of a graphics microfiche service for a period of weeks would seriously delay your project please contact User Support immediately.
The problem with the production of film is more severe. After discussions with technical staff at ULCC we feel that the production of film on the ULCC Dicomed from FR80 orders generated by programs run at RAL requires greater software effort than we have available. Thus we have reluctantly decided to cease provision of a 16mm and 35mm film service with the closure of the FR80. University users of SERC's computing facilities wishing to produce computer generated film beyond that time should make their own arrangements with the University of London Computer Centre through their local computing service. SERC staff wishing to produce film should contact Kate Crennell of User Support and Marketing Group to see if we can help. We regret having to make this decision but feel that the number of users is so small that we are unable to invest large amounts of software effort at a time of staff economies.
Documentation on directly driving the new devices, rather than using them in FR80 emulation mode, is available from the Program Advisory Office.
