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Configuration

1. A minimum of 16 Mbytes of memory is recommended. For machines that are to be used for physics analysis more than this will be required.
2. 330 Mbyte of disk space is the absolute minimum required. With a system disk of this size you will not even be able to install some of the subsets from the ULTRIX distribution, not to mention any other software that you may require (Motif, Fortran etc.). An RZ25 (456 MB) or RZ56 (665 MB) are the preferred options for the system disk for standalone machines whereas if you plan to run the Diskless Management Services (DMS) an RZ57 (1 GB) is recommended.

   NB: A third party disk cannot easily be used as the system disk because the installation procedure will not recognise these disks. Although this can be circumvented it would entail a considerable amount of extra effort for every installation or full upgrade of the operating system.

3. For performance reasons it is recommended that "diskless clients" be equipped with a small local disk drive for swapping and paging (e.g. RZ23 (121 MB) or RZ24 (209 MB).
4. A backup device should be foreseen. A high capacity tape drive such as an Exabyte is ideal for this purpose and there should be one of these devices at least for each group of stations.
5. A load device for the system software is not required as, for machines installed at CERN, there is a central server for ULTRIX system software, layered products and Online Documentation. The functions of this server are described in this guide. At least one RRD42 CD Disk drive is, however, recommended for each group of machines so that, for example, the Online Documentation Library may be mounted locally. Some third party software houses also distribute their software and demonstration packages in CD format.
6. More details on configuring DECstations, including the current prices are available via email to ultrixsp@dxcern.cern.ch.

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