NS/VAX Obsolescence Plan - September 1990

With the planned support of FTP and TELNET on MPE XL systems in the
next 6-12 months, the demand for the NS/VAX product (50950A) should
start declining.  In view of this and our emphasis on industry
standards as the means for multivendor communication, CND will obsolete
NS Services For The DEC VAX Computer in May, 1991.

This obsolescence is a little different than that of other HP products
because the computer platform is provided by another company and will
continue to exist.  As a result, it is especially important that we
provide sufficient notice of our intentions to our customers, and that
we provide reasonable migration alternatives for our installed base.

OBSOLESCENCE PLAN HIGHLIGHTS

1.  NS/VAX will be removed from the Corporate Price List as of May 1,
  1991.  A Two Year Support Life will be established, during which we
  will attempt to fix major defects and keep the product working with
  future 5.X revisions of VMS.  Thus customers can expect NS/VAX to
  remain a viable solution on VMS 5.X until at least May, 1993.

2.  New purchasers of HP systems should plan to use ARPA services to
  communicate between DEC and HP.  By the end of 1H'91, ARPA TCP/IP
  services should be available on all HP and DEC computers, either
  bundled with the operating system or for a reasonable cost.
  Currently ARPA support is available from HP on the HP 9000, HP 1000,
  and Personal Computers.  The HP 9000 supports Phase IV DECnet through
  the ASCENT*DNI software from CDC. WIN/TCP For MPE V from The
  Wollongong Group adds ARPA to MPE V systems.

3.  The installed base of NS/VAX users will need to migrate to ARPA
  services.  They will need sufficient time to determine the best way
  to do this.

4.  When FTP (Nov. '90) and TELNET (1H'91) are supported on MPE XL,
  they will effectively replace the functionality provided by NS/VAX.
  NS/VAX must remain available until these ARPA capabilities are
  shipping and accepted by customers.  We estimate that 60%-70% of
  NS/VAX usage involves an HP 3000.

5.  Users of NS/VAX with MPE V systems will have the following
  migration alternatives:
  a.  Purchase the WIN/TCP For MPE V software from The Wollongong Group
     and an appropriate ARPA implementation on the VAX.  This
     alternative becomes more attractive if DEC starts providing ARPA
     TCP/IP support on VMS directly.
  b.  Use another HP system which supports FTP as an intermediate hop
     to the DEC systems.  For example, the MPE V system can use Network
     File Transfer (NFT) to transfer files to/from an MPE XL system,
     which can then use FTP to connect to the DEC network and system.

If you have any questions or comments please contact Paul Maybaum at
CND (HPDESK preferred).

Subject: NS/VAX fix5.4
Creator: Network HOTLINE / HP6650/00     Dated: 09/18/91 at 1442.

                   NS/VAX BROKEN BY NEW VERSIONS OF DEC'S VMS
                   =========================================



PROBLEM STATEMENT: DEC implemented a new password hashing algorithm on
VMS 5.4. When NSVAX tries to log in a user via an inbound DSCOPY
request (HP 3000, 9000, or 1000 is the initiator), NSVAX incorrectly
hashes the password.  When it compares the hashed password with what is
really in the system authorization file, NSVAX believes the password
provided was not correct and will not let the user login.

The problem is not quite that straight forward.  Some users on VMS 5.4
systems will not experience the problem.  This is due to the fact that
the users password has not changed from VMS 5.x to VMS 5.4.  Once this
users password has been changed on VMS 5.4, it can no longer be used to
receive incoming DSCOPY's.  It appears that changing passwords on VMS
5.4 causes DEC's new hashing algorithm to be used when the system
authorization file is updated with the new password.

In addition, any new accounts added to the system appear to use the new
hashing algorithm.  Since the new accounts use the new hashing
algorithm they can't be used as user accounts in incoming DSCOPY
requests.

WORKAROUND:
- Use accounts that have not had their passwords changed on VMS 5.4.
- Use accounts that do not have passwords.
- Always initiate the file transfer from the VAX/VMS system.

ULTIMATE SOLUTION:

The lab has created a new version (2.18) that has been beta tested.
Tapes have been shipped to Grenoble for distribution to the field
offices/CRC's on an as-needed basis.

Please enter a TRACKER call in ENSC if you have clients with this
problem.

In the interest of saving time, please obtain the type of media (TK50
or 1600BPI tape) PRIOR to calling ENSC.  The customer's name and
support contract number is also required.

If a customer is not on software support, then a new tape will not be
issued.

Also have available your Hp shipping address so that when the tapes
arrive I can send them to you.  I cannot ship to customers due to
customs regulations.

REMINDER:

NS/VAX went on the inactive software list as of May 1, 1991. It is time
to move your customers to other services such as ftp or ftam. NS/VAX
will not be modified in the future to conform to new versions of VMS.

The updated Product Support Plan (DPSP 50950A #02919) contains the
discontinuance plan.

Tim Gill ENMC/Network Support Center