 






     Software
     Product
     Description

     ________________________________________________________________

     PRODUCT NAME:  DECelms, Version 1.1                 SPD 31.79.01
                    (DEC Extended LAN Management Software)

     DESCRIPTION

     DECelms (DEC Extended Local Area Network Management Software)
     is a VMS layered product that allows users, at a VAX host,
     to configure, manage, monitor, control and observe any LAN
     Bridge and FDDI Wiring Concentrator in the ``Extended LAN''
     and FDDI network environment. The term LAN Bridge is used to
     refer to Digital's LAN Bridge 100, LAN Bridge 150, LAN Bridge
     200, DECbridge 500, METROwave, and Chipcom's Ethermodem[TM]
     Broadband Bridge.

     The LAN Bridge products are the primary building blocks of the
     "Extended LAN" (Local Area Network) architecture. An Extended
     LAN is a collection of LANs that are interconnected and logi-
     cally appear as one large Local Area Network. The DECconcentra-
     tor is the primary building block of the FDDI network environ-
     ment. Together these environments are physically and logically
     attached and extended via the DECbridge 500. The DECbridge 500
     is the device which allows Ethernet and FDDI networks to trans-
     parently communicate.

     The LAN Bridge products operate at the data link level, and the
     FDDI DECconcentrator operates at the physical link level. Both
     product sets are transparent to upper level protocols.

     DECelms resides on a VAX host. Corresponding management firmware
     resides in the LAN Bridges and FDDI DECconcentrators. The man-
     agement protocol is used to communicate between the VAX host and
     the target LAN Bridges and FDDI DECconcentrators. DECelms pro-
     vides additional functionality to support the actual control and
     observation of the target LAN Bridges and FDDI DECconcentrators.

                                  DIGITAL               December 1990

                                                          AE-PAJZB-TE

 


     DECelms, Version 1.1                                SPD 31.79.01
     (DEC Extended LAN Management Software)


     The general characteristics of DECelms include:

     o  A superset of RBMS V2.0 functionality.

     o  Remote management capabilities for FDDI and Ethernet devices.

     o  Allows for observation, monitoring, and controlling of inter-
        operable FDDI and Ethernet networks.

     o  Ability to display and modify devices, lines, physical ports,
        and forwarding database characteristics.

     o  Ability to enable and disable lines and physical ports.

     o  Automatically build a host registry of all reachable FDDI
        DECconcentrators and LAN Bridges within the ``Extended LAN''
        and FDDI environment.

     o  Automatically or manually poll the devices stored in the host
        registry for faults, errors, and changed information.

     o  Errors are displayed to the alarms window of the user's
        display while more detailed information is being recorded
        in the error logfile.

     o  Ability to process the logfile keying off time or type of
        faults.

     o  Ability to use standard VMS utilities such as print, type,
        search, etc. on the ASCII formatted versions of the DECelms
        error log file.

     o  Displaying data-link counters, status and characteristics.

     o  Modifying parameters: operational state, forwarding database,
        and spanning tree characteristics.

     o  Remotely invoke a device's self-test capabilities.

     o  Providing for the association of ASCII names with specific
        device physical addresses; for ease of use in management
        commands.

     o  Simultaneous management access by multiple users.

     o  On-line help facility.

                                     2

 


     DECelms, Version 1.1                                SPD 31.79.01
     (DEC Extended LAN Management Software)


     o  Command line recall.

     o  Improved display formats including the ability to scroll up
        and down through the output.

     o  Similar display formats for all manageable devices.

     o  Password protection for setable parameters (LAN Bridge 150,
        200, 500, and FDDI DECconcentrator).

     o  Load and modify source address and protocol filtering tables
        LAN Bridge 200 and DECbridge 500.

     o  Displays network utilization statistics (LAN Bridge 200 and
        DECbridge 500).

     o  Displays the physical FDDI network topology through ring
        mapping capabilities.

     DECelms is comprised of five major conceptual functions which
     exist within two processes. The Bridge and DECconcentrator UI
     (User Interface) is one process. The Bridge and DECconcentrator
     Management Layer; the Registry Listener; the Background Poller;
     and the message mux functionalities all exist within the NImux
     process.

     The User Interface process allows for multiple user access.
     It is responsible for the parsing of the user's request, de-
     termining what protocol messages should be sent to execute the
     request, mapping ASCII names to physical addresses, forwarding
     the message to the NImux process and displaying the reply in
     user-readable format. Output can be directed to the terminal
     or to an ASCII file which can be printed using the standard VMS
     PRINT commands.

     The NImux Process contains code which queues the management
     requests to the devices. It is responsible for handling all
     timeouts and retries to devices. The NImux Process includes the
     message mux functionality which demultiplexes device responses
     and forwards the responses to the appropriate User Interface.

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     DECelms, Version 1.1                                SPD 31.79.01
     (DEC Extended LAN Management Software)


     The Registry Listener of the NImux process automatically builds
     a host Registry file of all reachable FDDI DECconcentrators and
     LAN bridges within the Extended LAN and FDDI environment.

     The Background Poller of the NImux process polls the devices
     stored in the Registry and determines if there has been a change
     in the state of a device. If a change has occurred, the Back-
     ground Poller performs the following:

     o  Write an informational message to the alarm window

     o  Keep the state of attributes on that device in the DECelms
        Registry, and

     o  Log an error in the DECelms log file

     The Registry Listener and the Background Poller can be setup
     independently to run at installation time, at specific time
     intervals, or at the DECelms users command.

     DECelm also allows the user to remotely downline load Digi-
     tal's LAN Bridge 100 and 150 with LAN Traffic Monitor software,
     thereby changing the device from its default state as a bridge.

     HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

     VAX, MicroVAX, VAXstation, or VAXserver configuration as speci-
     fied in the System Support Addendum (SSA 31.79.01-x).

     SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS*

     VMS Operating System

     *  Refer to the System Support Addendum (SSA 31.79.01-x) for
        availability and required versions of prerequisite/optional
        software.

     ORDERING INFORMATION

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     DECelms, Version 1.1                                SPD 31.79.01
     (DEC Extended LAN Management Software)


     Software Licenses: QL-YFPA*-**
     Software Media and Documentation: QA-YFPAA-**
     Software Documentation: QA-YFPAA-GZ
     Software Product Services: QT-YFPA*-**

     *  Denotes variant fields. For additional information on avail-
        able licenses, services and media, refer to the appropriate
        price book.

     SOFTWARE LICENSING

     This software is furnished under the licensing provisions of
     Digital Equipment Corporation's Standard Terms and Conditions.
     For more information about Digital's licensing terms and poli-
     cies, contact your local Digital office.

     LICENSE MANAGEMENT FACILITY SUPPORT

     This layered product supports the VMS License Management Facil-
     ity.

     License units for this product are allocated on a CPU-capacity
     basis.

     For more information on the License Management Facility, refer
     to the VMS Operating System Software Product Description (SPD
     25.01.xx) or the License Management Facility manual of the VMS
     Operating System documentation set.

     For more information about Digital's licensing terms and poli-
     cies, contact your local Digital office.

     SOFTWARE PRODUCT SERVICES

     A variety of service options are available. For more informa-
     tion, contact your local Digital office.

     SOFTWARE WARRANTY

                                     5

 


     DECelms, Version 1.1                                SPD 31.79.01
     (DEC Extended LAN Management Software)


     Warranty for this software product is provided by Digital with
     the purchase of a license for the product as defined in the
     Software Warranty Addendum of this SPD.

     [TM]  Ethermodem is a trademark of Chipcom Corporation.

     [TM]  The DIGITAL Logo, VAX, VMS, MicroVAX, VAXserver and VAXs-
           tation are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.































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