Conference csc32::consolemanager

  Well, your customer is asking for VAXcluster Console System (VCS), yes, you are right, this is going away!

  POLYCENTER Console Manager V1.1 will replace VCS on the
  OpenVMS VAX platform as well as being available on OpenVMS
  AXP, ULTRIX RISC and OSF/1.

  There was a Sales Update Announcement for POLYCENTER Console
  Manager not so long ago, you could start looking there for
  information, alternatively, you could try our Product
  Manager Anne Dinneen (TOOK::DINNEEN).

Cheers,
Phil

    
    VCS costs $1000. PCM costs $74,000. Is the VCS just a client???
    
    Does "available on OpenVMS" mean it's available as the host???
    
    

    Whoa, stop the show. PCM doesn't cost 74K. It's based on the same
    licensing schema as VCS, per console line connection, which for PCM
    is actually a little less than VCS, being somewher around $750 per
    console connection. the 74K is a bulk license for 200 consoles.
    
    Both of these products are maintained by the same group, so there 
    is no confusion here. PCM currently runs on Ultrix and will soon 
    run on Open VMS and OSF as well. It will be available to customers 
    in a few months. If you're anxious to sell the customer something, 
    you can go with VCS. PCM will honor VCS licenses when they migrate to
    PCM. PCM will be our flagship console management product, eventually 
    replacing VCS.
    
    Cheers,
    
       Dave

Harry,
      lets clarify a few things:

1) Licenses.

   VCS offers per connection license at approx $1,000 per connection upto
   a limit of 32 connections maximum.

   PCM offers per connection license at approx $750 per connection upto
   a limit of 200 connections maximum.

   PCM also offers Unlimited Use license ( upto the maximum supported number
   of connections as published in the SPD which is 200 for this version).
   This license cost approx $74,000.

2) Platforms:

   Neither VCS or PCM have a client which runs on the managed systems. Our
   connection point is the physical console line (via terminal servers where    
   appropriate).

   VCS V1.4 is supported on OpenVMS VAX only.

   PCM V1.0 is supported on ULTRIX MIPS only.

   Both the above are currentlky shipping.

   PCM V1.1 will be available on:

   OpenVMS VAX Version 6.0 onwards.

   OpenVMS AXP Version 1.5 onwards.

   ULTRIX V4.3a onwards.

   OSF/1 AXP V1.3 onwards.

3) Replacement:

   A goal of PCM V1.1 was to replace VCS V1.4 and allow the VCS product to be   
   retired. As part of this the upgrade from VCS V1.4 is zero cost for the      
   licenses if migrating to PCM on OpenVMS VAX.

   ( In addition to this zero cost option digitla are offering special Q4
     incentives to trade in existing VAX based products for AXP. In this case
     a customer pays for hardware and the software is transfered at zero cost.
     An existing VCS customer moving to PCM may upgrade to an AXP platform 
     without paying PCM license cost under these terms as well as although 
     the product names are different PCM is regarded as an upgrade to VCS
     under these conditions).

4) Availability:

   PCM V1.1 is exiting EFT at the moment and over the next few weeks we will be 
   submitting to SSB. The kit should be arriving on the CONDIST disks in the    
   next 2-3 months depending on the CONDIST release cycles.

In the previous reply Dave said that you could sell VCS if you wanted. That is
fine, however the customer will pay more per connection than if he ordes VCS
and will have to at some time upgrade to PCM.

Cheers Simon....

    
    With PCM or VCS, is the software just on the host or is it also on the
    client?
    
    Is there any way to do a WAN connection to a remote client??
    
    If you can't do a WAN connection, then how about an extended LAN
    (Bridged) connection via LAT???  How about TELNET???
    
    The idea of having to run an RS232 wire isn't very appealing.
    
    Harry
    

Harry,

  The software only runs on the PCM Host, no client software
  is involved.

  Yes, you can do WAN connections, however, you will need a
  TCP/IP network and terminal servers capable of TELNET
  connections.

  The only RS232 wire you should need is from the system to
  the terminal server.

Cheers,
Phil

	We have a customer who has an unlimited licence for VCS - so they
	can manage up to 32 console lines with that. Do they actually get
	unlimited licence for Console Manager without any extra charge? 
	To me it seems like giving away ~170 new console lines to 
	manage.

	Or is it maybe so that they will get a CM licence for 32 console 
	lines?

	Regards,

	Pirjo 

    	Pirjo ,
    
>    	We have a customer who has an unlimited licence for VCS - so they
>	can manage up to 32 console lines with that. Do they actually get
>	unlimited licence for Console Manager without any extra charge? 
>	To me it seems like giving away ~170 new console lines to 
>	manage.

    No. There was no such thing as an unlimited VCS license. When they
    migrate to PCM. they will be able to manage the same amount of
    consoles.
    
>	Or is it maybe so that they will get a CM licence for 32 console 
>	lines?

    
    Correct.
    
    Regards,
    
       Dave

    Is PCM available now to customers,can they just order it through their
    normal sales contact if they want to migrate from vcs to pcm.
    
    	Thanks
    	Brian
    

Brian,
      YES.

The different platforms are appearing on the CDDS service and the other
media/part numbers are available.

Cheers Simon....