DECrouter 200 Management Guide Vol 1 Jan89

This document is the DECrouter 200 Management Guide, Volume I (Order No. AA-MK12A-TE), published in January 1989. It is intended for the DECrouter 200 manager, responsible for initializing, maintaining, managing, and troubleshooting the DECrouter 200 system (software version V1.1).

Key areas covered in this volume include:

1. Introduction to DECrouter 200: Describes the DECrouter 200 as an Ethernet communications routing server that connects personal computers and larger systems to LANs and wider DECnet networks, supporting up to eight asynchronous DDCMP point-to-point circuits and one Ethernet circuit. It highlights the router's role in offloading communication processing, its dedicated routing function, dial-back security, and path splitting capabilities. It also differentiates between the permanent database (on the load host, customized with DRCP) and the operational database (on the running router, modified with NCP).
2. Components and Routing Concepts: Explains fundamental networking concepts like nodes, circuits, and lines, and details the router's routing functions such as adaptive routing, reachability, routing update messages, its role as a designated router, and congestion control.
3. Management Tools: Introduces and explains the primary tools for managing the DECrouter 200, including:
   • ROUCONFIG: A load host configuration procedure for managing the router's node database (adding, swapping, deleting entries).
   • DECrouter 200 Configuration Program (DRCP): Used on a load host to customize the router's permanent software image and set system/network parameters.
   • Network Control Program (NCP): A powerful tool for monitoring and modifying the running router's operational parameters, initiating down-line loads, displaying routing information, and troubleshooting. It covers security aspects (passwords) and how to issue commands.
   • DECnet Event Logging: For recording router activities and troubleshooting.
   • DECrouter 200 Monitor Utility (Local and Remote): Provides real-time status information for performance monitoring and problem detection.
   • Troubleshooting Tools: Such as hardware self-test, NCP loopback tests, up-line dumping, and DECnet counters.
4. Operational Procedures: Provides detailed guidance on:
   • Configuring the Load Host's Node Database: Using ROUCONFIG to set up the necessary database entries for down-line loading and up-line dumping.
   • Down-Line Loading the Software Image: Describes the initialization process, different methods to initiate a load (power-up, NCP LOAD, NCP TRIGGER), and ways to monitor the load (LED displays, 900-series messages, event logging).
   • Managing Operations with NCP: Explains how to use NCP commands (SHOW, SET, CLEAR, ZERO, LOAD, TRIGGER, LOOP) to interact with the running router, including managing security, displaying/modifying parameters, and monitoring performance counters.
5. Problem Analysis and Troubleshooting: Dedicated chapters outline how to use the various management tools to diagnose and resolve problems, categorized by hardware issues, load failures, and communication problems with adjacent nodes (asynchronous ports, dial-back lines, Ethernet ports) or wider DECnet networks. It provides steps for running self-tests, interpreting LED indications, using loopback tests, and analyzing up-line dumps for severe failures.

Appendices provide NCP command syntax summaries, detailed descriptions of DECnet event logging messages, modem control characteristics for dial-back features, and DECrouter 200 hardware LAN configurations.