[9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?

[9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?

[John]

Its amusing to learn that the PIX Firewall software was developed under
plan9 - we have native Inferno running on some PIX Firewalls in the office.

John Bates
Vita Nuova Limited

bwc@borf.COM wrote in message <199810281401.JAA13351@cse.psu.edu>...
>My group ran plan9 as a development environment at a
>startup I co-founded called Network Translation Inc.
>NTI was purchansed in 1995 by Cisco Systems and
>my group in Athens GA produced the PIX Firewall and
>the LocaDirector TCP rotor.  We had eight programmers,
>each with a plan9 terminal, two file servers and a cpu
>server.  This was in two buildings in a small office
>park.  We had a fiber cable linking the two buildings.
>That was the Athens Research Facility, ARF.
>.

[9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?

[ed]

In response to Russell Davies <c9415019@lily.newcastle.edu.au>

I use a Plan 9 set-up for teaching distributed operating systems.
We have a 486 file server, a pentium II @200 MH for a compute
server and authentication, 4 terminals in the department and
I run a plan9 terminal at home linked with an ISDN line.  Several
students have installed plan 9 on home computers that are stand-alone
terminals.

The ISDN line is connected through Ascend 25 and 50 Pipeline bridges
doing IP routing and they are not passing IL packets so the home
system cannot seamlessly connect to the office Plan 9 environment.

One student, Louis Beleos, has taken an interest in Plan 9
and has installed a #z device in our kernels to allow access to
the system and cmos clock registers with the objective of
synchronizing the Plan 9 clocks with an internet time server.
This is working quite well with the compute server maintaining time
within a few ms.

As a plan 9 user since Fall of 1993, I second Brantley Coile's comments:

--------------------
I have spent time with Suns, HPs and various other systems and
can find no peace in any of them.  They are all limited, sterile,
ornate to the point of obscure.  It is a bad sign when someone who
has be working with Unix since the Sixth Edition is required to get
someone else to setup the system.
--------------------

I use Plan 9 for almost all computing, both personal and professional.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed Wishart                                  The only constant is change.
Computer Science Department/171
University of Nevada
Reno, NV 89557 USA
Internet: ed@cs.unr.edu                     702 784-4257
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?

[forsyth]

>>I have spent time with Suns, HPs and various other systems and
>>can find no peace in any of them.  They are all limited, sterile,
>>ornate to the point of obscure.  It is a bad sign when someone who
>>has be working with Unix since the Sixth Edition is required to get
>>someone else to setup the system.

Amen.

[9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?

[bwc]

If memory serves, Ken flew jets, Migs or Sukhois.
I fly small planes with big reciprocating engines.

But, my trainer is Nikolay Timofeev of Russia who won second
at the World Aerobatic Competition in Slovakia this year.

Brantley

[9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?

[Nigel]

	After two years I left Cisco and spent a year flying aerobatics,
	a period my lawyers said would keep me safe from any legal
action

Is that what ken was doing in Russia then?

[9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?

[bwc]

My group ran plan9 as a development environment at a 
startup I co-founded called Network Translation Inc.
NTI was purchansed in 1995 by Cisco Systems and
my group in Athens GA produced the PIX Firewall and
the LocaDirector TCP rotor.  We had eight programmers,
each with a plan9 terminal, two file servers and a cpu
server.  This was in two buildings in a small office
park.  We had a fiber cable linking the two buildings.
That was the Athens Research Facility, ARF.

Cisco is a gnu/sun shop and plan9 has caused some problems with
the rest of engineering.  I think ARF has now been forced to switch
to gun/sun.

After two years I left Cisco and spent a year flying aerobatics,
a period my lawyers said would keep me safe from any legal action
when and if I do the next thing.  I'm now setting up a plan9
system for my new development environment, BORF.  I'm porting
the file server and cpu server to a couple of VME MIPS4700
boards that will use the backplan as a local network between
the file server and cpu server.

I have spent time with Suns, HPs and various other systems and
can find no peace in any of them.  They are all limited, sterile,
ornate to the point of obscure.  It is a bad sign when someone who
has be working with Unix since the Sixth Edition is required to get
someone else to setup the system.

Plan9 has works really well.  Myself and the ARF guys can testify to that.

Brantley Coile
bwc@borf.com

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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 14:37:02 +1100
From: Russell Davies <c9415019@lily.newcastle.edu.au>
Subject: [9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?
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I'm looking for accounts of people who have gone beyond merely installing
plan9 on an isolated workstation (which kind of defeats much of the
purpose of a distributed system) and have a setup comprised of multiple
file/cpu servers and massive storage devices on distinct machines (and
hence networked), I'd like to hear about such installations either in
the home or workplace, and some of the details involved.

cheers,
	r.

[9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?

[G.David]

>From: Russell Davies <c9415019@lily.newcastle.edu.au>
>
>I'm looking for accounts of people who have gone beyond
>merely installing plan9 on an isolated workstation

I have a network at home consisting of 2 file servers,
1 cpu server and 3 terminals.  (Adaptec 1542 and 1740
SCSI cards, 3Com 3c515 and 3com 3c509 ethernet cards.)

The internet platform has 2 file servers each with 100 Gig
of mirrored storage connected to a switched network and
2 cpu servers connected to the same network and, using
additional controllers, connected to an external network
to the internet.  (DPT PM2041W SCSI cards and 3com 3c515
ethernet cards.)

All of the file and cpu servers are network booted using
NIC boot ROMs (Lanworks on 3com 3c515s) except the standalone
bootp/tftp/auth server.

My home system is used for development and fun.  The internet
platform (in testing) will host public internet based services. 

Plan 9 works.

David Butler
gdb@dbSystems.com

[9fans] plan9 for PC <-> Distributed OS?

[Russell]

I'm looking for accounts of people who have gone beyond merely installing
plan9 on an isolated workstation (which kind of defeats much of the
purpose of a distributed system) and have a setup comprised of multiple
file/cpu servers and massive storage devices on distinct machines (and
hence networked), I'd like to hear about such installations either in
the home or workplace, and some of the details involved.

cheers,
	r.