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load RQDX3/RQDX3 <logical name>

Example:

load RQDX3/RQDX3 DUA

The RQDX3 offers the following configuration parameters, which are specified with the "set" command:

address

Parameter

address

Type

Numeric

Value

Specifies the CSR address. This address must be a valid QBUS 22-bit address in IO space.

Initially its value is 017772150, which is the factory setting for the RQDX3 disk controller.

Use the "address" parameter for loading several instances of RQDX3. The "address" parameter value must be unique for every instance of the controller.

max_n_of_units

Parameter

max_n_of_units

Type

Numeric

Value

Specifies the maximum number of units supported by the controller. Possible values are 4…9999.

The default value is 9999.

container

Parameter

container[N]

N=0…9999

Type Text String

Value

Specifies the location of the disk container. It can be either the name of a ".vdisk" file or the name of a physical disk:

Local fixed disks (IDE, SCSI, SATA)
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive<N>"
  "\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID =XXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX)"
  DevID addresses the target physical disk by its WWID
  (hexadecimal 128-bit identifier assigned to the disk
  drive by its manufacturer/originator).
  Example:
  
  Div
  class small
  set DUA container[3]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID= 6008-05F3-0005-2950-BF8E-0B86-A0C7-0001)"
  
  .
iSCSI disks
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget = <iSCSI target>, LUN = <LUN number>)"
  iScsiTarget addresses the disk by its iSCSI target name.
  LUN specifies LUN on connected iSCSI disk.
  Example:
  
  Div
  class small
  set DUA container[0]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget= iqn.2008-04:iscsi.charon-target-test1, LUN= 1)"
  
  .
Floppy drives
- "\\.\A:"
- "\\.\B:"
  .
CD-ROM, DVD drives (IDE, SCSI, …)
- "\\.\CdRom<N>"

media_type

Parameter

media_type[N]

N=0…9999

Type

Text String

Value

Overrides the default (automatically determined) MSCP media type of a device.

Syntax:

"<device-name>[,<device-type>]"

where:

<device-name> is one of “DU”, “DK”, “SCSI”, “DI”, “DSSI”, “DJ”
<device-type> is of the form “LLD” or “LLLD”, where “L” is a letter from A through Z, and “D” is a decimal number from 0 through 99

If not specified, the device name is set to “DU” and the device type is selected based on disk size.

Initially not specified.

geometry

Parameter

geometry[N]

N=0…9999

Type

Text String

Value

This formatted string value specifies the explicit geometry of the disk storage element with a DSSI node id: N and an MSCP unit number: N. This parameter is not applicable to tape storage elements.

The string format is <X>”/”<Y>[“/”<Z>] where:

X is the number of sectors per track;
Y is the number of tracks per cylinder;
Z (optional) is the number of cylinders on the unit. If omitted, Z is calculated based on X, Y and the total number of sectors on the unit that reflects the size of the disk storage element;

If this parameter is not set, CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP will configure the geometry based on the most probable disk type.

use_io_file_buffering

Parameter

use_io_file_buffering[N]

N=0…9999

Type

Text String

Value

Instructs CHARON-VAX to enable host operating system I/O cache on reading/writing operations.

The following values are possible:

"true" or "write-back" - the "write back" caching mode is used
"write-through" - the "write through" caching mode is used
"false" - caching is switched off

Note that this caching has a significant effect only in case of mapping to disk and tape containers, not physical drives.

When enabled, host operating system I/O cache may significantly improve I/O performance of the virtual system. At the same time maintaining I/O cache requires additional host resources (CPU and memory) which may negatively affect overall performance of the virtual system.

Initially is set to "false".

Example:

set DUA use_io_file_buffering[2]=true

Example 1:

load RQDX3/RQDX3 DUA address=017772150 max_n_of_units=4

set DUA container[0] = "C:\Charon\Disks\rx23.vdisk"
set DUA container[1] = "\\.\PhysicalDrive1"

load RQDX3/RQDX3 DUB address=017760334

set DUB container[5] = "\\.\CdRom0"

In the above example the "rx23.vdisk" will be seen in VMS as DUA0, "\\.\PhysicalDrive1" as DUA1 and "\\.\CdRom0" as DUB5.

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Example 2:

load RQDX3/RQDX3 DIA address=017772150 max_n_of_units=4

set DIA container[0] = "C:\Charon\Disks\rx23.vdisk"
set DIA media_type[0] = "dssi"

set DIA container[1] = "\\.\PhysicalDrive1"
set DIA media_type[1] = "dssi"

...

load TQK50/TQK50 <logical name 1>
load TUK50/TUK50 <logical name 2>

Example:

load TQK50/TQK50 MUA1
load TUK50/TUK50 MUA2

...

Parameter

container[N]

N=0…9999

Type

Text String

Value

Specifies the location of the tape container. It can be either the name of a ".vtape" (".mtd") file or the name of a physical tape drive:

Tape images
- <file name>.vtape
  .
Local physical tape drives recognized by Windows
- "\\.\Tape<N>"
  .
Physical SCSI tape drive connected to a CHARON host, but not recognized by Windows
- "\\.\Scsi<X>:<Y>:<Z>:<N>"
  To find the values of X,Y,Z and N use the utility "Host Device Check"

media_type

Parameter

media_type[N]

N=0…9999

Type

Text String

Value

Overrides the default (automatically determined) TMSCP media type of a device.

Syntax:

"<device-name>[,<device-type>]"

where:

<device-name> is either: “MU”, “MK”, “SCSI”, “MI”, “DSSI”, or “MJ”
<device-type> is of the form “LLD” or “LLLD”, where “L” is letter a from A through Z, and “D” is a decimal number from 0 through 99

If not specified, the device name is set to “MU” and the device type is set to “TK50”

Initially not specified.

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Parameter

geometry[N]

N=0...9999

Type

Text String

Value

Specifies the size of a tape image and (optionally) the size of an "early-warning" area at the end of a tape image.

Syntax:

"<image-size>[, <early-warning-zone-size>]"

where:

<image-size> is the tape size in MB
<early-warning-zone-size> is the size (in KB) of the space left on the tape that, when reached, issues a warning to the OS. If omitted, 64K is assumed.

Example:

load TQK50 MUA
set MUA geometry[0] = 90

...

Example:

load TQK50 MUA address=017774500

set MUA container[0] = "\\.\Tape0"
set MUA container[1] = "C:\Charon\Tapes\tape1.vtape"

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KDM70 Controller

KDM70 is an MSCP/TMSCP disk and tape storage controller for a VAX 6000.

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Parameter

container[N]

N=0…9999

Type

Text String

Value

Possible values of the parameter are strings in one of the following forms:

Physical disk drives
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive<X>", where X is 0, 1, …
  "\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID =XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX)"
  DevID addresses the target physical disk by its WWID
  (hexadecimal 128-bit identifier assigned to the disk
  drive by its manufacturer/originator).
  Example:
  
  Div
  class small
  set PUA container[3]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID= 6008-05F3-0005-2950-BF8E-0B86-A0C7-0001)"
  
  .
iSCSI disks
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget = <iSCSI target>, LUN = <LUN number>)"
  iScsiTarget addresses the disk by its iSCSI target name.
  LUN specifies LUN on connected iSCSI disk.
  Example:
  
  Div
  class small
  set PUA container[0]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget= iqn.2008-04:iscsi.charon-target-test1, LUN= 1)"
  
  .
Physical tape drives recognized by Windows
- "\\.\Tape<X>", where X is 0, 1, …
  .
Physical tape drives not recognized by Windows
- "\\.\Scsi<X>:<Y>:<Z>:<N>"
  Use the utility "Host Device Check" to find the values of X,Y,Z and N
  .
Floppy drives
- "\\.\A:"
- "\\.\B:"
  .
CD-ROM drives (read-only)
- "\\.\CdRom<X>", where X is 0, 1, …
  .
CHARON-VAX disk images
- [<drive>":\"<path-name>"\"]<file-name>[".vdisk"]
  .
CHARON-VAX tape images
- [<drive>":\"<path-name>"\"]<file-name>".vtape"

...

Parameter

use_io_file_buffering[N]

N=0…9999

Type

Text String

Value

Instructs CHARON-VAX to enable host operating system I/O cache on reading/writing operations.

The following values are possible:

"true" or "write-back" - the "write back" caching mode is used
"write-through" - the "write through" caching mode is used
"false" - caching is switched off

Note that this caching has a significant effect only in case of mapping to disk and tape containers, not physical drives.

When enabled, host operating system I/O cache may significantly improve I/O performance of the virtual system. At the same time maintaining I/O cache requires additional host resources (CPU and memory) which may negatively affect overall performance of the virtual system.

Initially is set to "false".

Example:

set PUA use_io_file_buffering[0]=true

...

Example:

Create a KDM70 storage controller: (T)MSCP controller in XMI slot 10:

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set PUA container[10]="\\.\A:"

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Info

The virtual KDM70 storage controller examines the file extension (vdiskor vtape) to distinguish between a disk image and a tape image.

Configured physical devices or tape/disk images that do not exist on the host system will, in general, cause VAX/VMS to report the unit offline. In some cases this will result in a VMS BUG CHECK. In this case, an error message will be written to the log file.

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Parameter

use_io_file_buffering[N]

N=0…9999

Type

Text String

Value

Instructs CHARON-VAX to enable host operating system I/O cache on reading/writing operations.

The following values are possible:

"true" or "write-back" - the "write back" caching mode is used
"write-through" - the "write through" caching mode is used
"false" - caching is switched off

Note that this caching has a significant effect only in case of mapping to disk and tape containers, not physical drives.

When enabled, host operating system I/O cache may significantly improve I/O performance of the virtual system. At the same time maintaining I/O cache requires additional host resources (CPU and memory) which may negatively affect overall performance of the virtual system.

Initially is set to "false".

Example:

set PUA use_io_file_buffering[0]=true

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Example:

Create a KDB50 MSCP controller in BI slot 1 of a VAX/PDP11:

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Versions Compared

Old Version 1

New Version 2

Key

address

max_n_of_units

container

media_type

geometry

use_io_file_buffering

media_type

KDM70 Controller