Options for Managing a DTC Remotely

3.2.2. Disadvantages
If the customer doesn’t have an existing HP-UX on its network, than
an HP-UX system would need to be purchased, resulting in an
extra cost for the customer. Also, the functionality that is supported
on the HP-UX DTC management platform is a subset of what is
supported in MPE/iX. Primarily, because of a different ability to
make connections via X.25, the HP-UX management platform
doesn’t allow the configuration of this functionality on DTCs.
Customers with a need for X.25 connectivity would not be
supported. As well as limited functionality, the methods of
connectivity could be potentially different. Users wishing to still
make connections via the proprietary AFCP protocol may
encounter problems as HP-UX systems rely on Telnet. MPE/iX
does support Telnet on its systems since release 5.5, but not to the
extent that HP-UX does with regards to user programs connecting
to external devices. MPE/iX Telnet is only for inbound, client-
initiated connections. Customers wanting to consider this method
would have to include a non-trivial test cycle to ensure they can
continue to connect to the MPE/iX system in a way that is
compatible with their needs. There would also be a potential
learning curve for the customer in order to use the HP-UX DTC
management utilities, especially if these utilities were not needed in
the computing environment.
3.3. Option 3: Local MPE/iX Management
In this option, the OVDTCMGR PC that is at the remote DTC(s) site
is replace with a low end MPE/iX box that is focused solely on
managing the DTCs. Since the MPE/iX DTC management
software is being updated to support all functionality currently
supported on the OVDTCMGR PC, no drop off of functionality
would be experienced.
3.3.1. Advantages
On customer sites that have DTCs to serve MPE/iX systems, the
learning curve for this solution would be small, as familiarity with
the NMMGR configuration program would be present. Also, this
MPE/iX system would be available for other tasks on the network
and not limited to DTC management, given the customer an
additional computing resource.
3.3.2. Disadvantages
It is projected that even a low-end HP 3000 system would cost
several times as compared to an equivalent low-end Windows 98
based PC that a user could setup to manage the DTCs on the
network. If the customer has a large number of remote sites, each