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vtVAX for Bare Metal Product Overview

vtVAX is a cost-effective replacement for almost any DEC VAX
server or workstation. This affordable VAX virtualization software
runs on modern commodity hardware, reducing maintenance and
operating cost and yielding ‘green’ benefits for both the datacenter
and the bottom-line.
The OpenVMS operating system, user interface and applications run
unmodified on vtVAX. No conversion of VAX source code is
required. No retraining is required. Your investment is protected.
vtVAX runs on x86-compatible processors either as an application
under Microsoft Windows or installed on Bare Metal (no pre-installed
operating system). You are no longer locked in; you can now easily
move to a more common platform and integrate your VAX systems in
the IT infrastructure of your organization.
vtVAX is hardware-compatible with the original VAX with
significantly increased CPU and disk performance, improving
both boot and response times; often these are the only changes
users will notice. Programmer productivity is enhanced through faster
build times. The vtVAX Instruction Caching option dramatically
improves the performance of CPU-intensive applications such as
floating point, statistical analysis, and data warehouse business
analytics.
The compatibility of vtVAX with VAX hardware has been tested
using the DEC VAX diagnostics and architecture verification tools.
Compatibility with legacy DEC physical devices including SCSI disks
and tapes, serial ports (including full modem control) and Ethernet
cards preserves real-time process control applications in industrial
environments. Costly re-certification of systems can thus be avoided.
vtVAX brings OpenVMS Clusters’ well-deserved reputation for highavailability and reliability into the modern datacenter, providing
flexible, cost-effective disaster recovery options for small businesses
and global enterprises alike.
vtVAX is very easy to use. Using the graphical configuration
interface, you specify the characteristics and configuration of your
existing VAX computer. vtVAX then builds an exact image of the
VAX hardware your software is used to seeing. This ensures that you
don’t need to change your software or your processes.
After your virtual VAX is up and running, vtVAX provides the
capability to start, stop, and maintain your installed base of virtual
VAX systems from a single management interface.

System Performance
The vtVAX solution will easily meet or exceed the performance of
almost every VAX computer it replaces. With the Instruction Caching
option, it scales nicely against even multi-CPU high-end VAX
servers.

VM-1001-17 (1/2019)

Storage Subsystem
Logical Disks and Tapes
vtVAX logical disk and tape devices are implemented using container
files: a single host file that contains the entire contents of a single
OpenVMS disk or tape volume. Container files reside on storage
devices that are mounted as part of the host PC file system. They may
reside on disks directly attached to the PC host (including solid state,
USB, CD or DVD drives), or on remote storage (NAS, SAN, iSCSI, or
cloud-based storage). Logical devices can be backed up using the
OpenVMS BACKUP utility, as on the VAX system being replaced, or
the container files can be backed up using host-based backup or file
copy utilities.
Using logical disks, multiple small VAX disks may be consolidated
using a single larger host disk to streamline the disk configuration.
Logical disks also provide the option to expand the number of drives
configured on the virtualized VAX system. This opens up possibilities
for load-balancing and performance tuning that may not exist for you
today.
The use of logical tape devices allows existing OpenVMS disk-to-tape
backup and restore procedures to run many times faster, at disk-todisk speeds, with much higher reliability. After the backup operation is
complete the container file may be copied using PC-based utilities for
data archival purposes.
Physical Disks and Tapes
VAX SCSI disk and tape drives may be connected to SCSI adapters
on the PC host system and accessed directly, as when they were
connected to the existing VAX system.
We recommend that, whenever possible, legacy devices not be used
for daily operations, since modern disks are significantly faster and
more reliable than tapes and older disks.
VAX SCSI tape devices connected to the host PC can be used to read
previously recorded tapes, eliminating the need to convert tape
libraries as part of the migration process.

Supported VMS Configurations
vtVAX supports VAX/VMS and OpenVMS versions 4.3 and later with
memory configurations up to 512 MB; VAX 7000 systems can be
configured with up to 3.5 GB on Bare Metal.
The OPA0 VAX Console can be configured using a COM port or
Telnet connections. VT-series terminals are supported using a variety
of popular third-party X-terminal emulation packages. Console ports
may be password-protected for security.

vtVAX for Bare Metal Product Overview

OpenVMS Clusters

Software License Protection

vtVAX supports VMS clustering using the Ethernet (NI) or virtual
MSCP shared disk interconnects. The Maintenance Operations
Protocol (MOP) is supported for VMS system administration
functions and remote booting.

vtVAX is a software product available under a perpetual use or annually
renewable end-user license.

Storage Subsystem
Emulated Qbus systems may have up to 4 virtual RQDX3
controllers, each supporting 32 disk or tape drives. SCSI bus
systems support the configuration of 2 virtual SCSI controllers, each
supporting 7 disk or tape devices. The SCSI devices may be logical
devices or physical VAX SCSI devices connected via a PC host
SCSI adapter. VAX 7000 systems may be configured with up to 448
virtual DSSI disks.

The DEC/Compaq/HP operating system and layered software product
license requirements are the same running under vtVAX as running on
the native processor being emulated. In general, your existing
OpenVMS-based and third-party software licenses will transfer to
vtVAX ‘as is’. Contact your vtVAX reseller for information regarding the
use of third-party software applications in a virtualized environment.
The licenses are stored on a Smart Card device (most commonly a USB
stick) directly on the host or another host in the network or on vtLicense
Server, a network-based appliance that can be used with low-cost
disaster recovery licenses to configure for no-single-point-of-failure.

Network Subsystem

Host Computer Requirements

vtVAX emulates DELQA/DEQNA (XQ), SGEC (EZ), or DEMNA
(EX) Ethernet adapters, depending on the emulated system model.
Network throughput is determined by the host adapter speed, not
the speed limitations of the emulated device. Using Fast Ethernet
(100Mbit/sec) or Gigabit adapters, throughputs well in excess of
those of the original VAX system may be obtained.

vtVAX for Bare Metal runs on multi-core 64-bit Intel or AMD x86
architecture processors, either physical or virtualized, without a preinstalled operating system. The Bare Metal approach provides
enhanced performance, security, and stability and simplified host
system management compared to products running as an application
under a general-purpose operating system.

All VAX supported network protocols (TCP/IP, DECnet, LAT, MOP,
etc.) will run on vtVAX.

Systems with the latest Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron multi-core
processors will provide adequate performance. Faster CPUs will
increase the emulator’s performance.

Each virtual network adapter may be configured to connect to a
dedicated physical network interface or to a vtServer virtual
network switch. The virtual switches may be configured to allow
sharing of physical network interfaces, provide redundant network
connectivity, or to connect multiple virtual VAX and Alpha systems
running on the same host without connecting to the physical
network. Care should be taken to prevent saturation of lower speed
physical interfaces which are shared by multiple virtual adapters.
The virtual network switches support both VLANs and Spanning
Tree Protocol.

Serial Lines
For Qbus systems, vtVAX emulates the DHQ11, DHV11, CXA16,
CXB16, and CXY08 serial interfaces, up to 32 ports. On the 3100
models, a quad UART is available.
Each emulated serial port requires a dedicated connection on the
host: a serial COM port or a Telnet connection. Only the ports
actually used need to be configured.

VAX System Consolidation
vtServer, the Bare Metal infrastructure common to vtVAX and
vtAlpha, is capable of running multiple instances of vtVAX and
vtAlpha concurrently on the same host system. The hardware
requirements are the sum of the requirements for each instance
that will be executing simultaneously.

vtVAX for Bare Metal requires an amount of memory equal to that
configured on the virtualized VAX systems plus an additional 2.0 GB.

Secure Environment
vtVAX ships with only three open ports (http, https, license key). vtVAX
provides an ‘opt-in’ security environment that can be configured by the
system manager to meet the security needs of your company.
Security Highlights:
!
!
!
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Access roles and configurable security levels
Secure communication protocols
Encrypted environment in the Cloud
Event logging and alerts (configurable)

Contact Us
Email: info@DECemulation.com
More information about vtVAX may be obtained from
our web site: www.vax-alpha-emulation.com/vtvax
For a list of vtVAX resellers, see:
www.vax-alpha-emulation.com/contact

vtAlpha and vtVAX are marketed jointly by
AVT and Vere Technologies LLC