[email protected] (Anne & Lynn Wheeler) writes:
> There was a problem as more and more services moved into virtual
> machines (common terminology now calls it virtual applicance, but then
> was called service virtual machines) ... that even if the system auto
> re-ipl'ed w/o human intervention ... there was increasing need to have
> the services running virtually automatically come up.

re:
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2014g.html#85 Costs of core

another part of the rise of the service virtual machines was SPM. cp67
had message mechanism to send instant/text message between users. SPM
(special message) was originally developed for cp67 at the IBM Pisa
science center ... and quickly was used for service virtual machines.

user-to-user and system-to-user messages could be redirected to software
running in the service virtual machine ... implementing all sorts of
automated operations under program control.

one of the original service virtual machines was vnet/rscs ...
basis for the internal network (larger than arpanet/internet from
just about the beginning until sometime late '85 or early '86)
done by former coworker at the science center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edson_Hendricks
as well as the technology used for the corporate sponsored univ. network
(also for a period larger than arpanet/intenet) ... which is where
ibm-main originated
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BITNET

SPM allowed authorized users to send messages to RSCS/VNET and be
interpreted as commands. RSCS/VNET also leveraged SPM to allow
user-to-user messages across the network (message sent to local
RSCS/VNET then forwarded to users on different machines).

SPM was also used by the author of REXX to implement a multi-user
client/server spacewar game ... spacewar server anywhere in the network,
with clients communicating with the server (even leveraging RSCS/VNET
forwarding to have spacewar communities across the network). The client
interface was standard 3270 screen, keyboard commands and space map on
the screen. A problem arose, the client/server interface was simple
enough that several users wrote "bot" players ... that started to
dominate all games. Eventually the server was modified that non-linearly
increased power use as the interval between client commands dropped
below typical human reaction time (somewhat leveling the playing
field)

SPM was the standard mechanism, leveraging the user-to-user message
mechanism to implement all sorts of automated software services and
automated operator.

on of the problems was high resistance to releasing it to customers.  A
radical subset of SPM was released as IUCV ... and then a different
subset as SMSG (however both IUCV plus SMSG combined was still a subset
of full SPM).

other recent posts mentioning service virtual machines
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2014.html#1 Application development paradigms [was: 
RE: Learning Rexx]
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2014.html#2 Application development paradigms [was: 
RE: Learning Rexx]
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2014.html#18 "Death of the mainframe"
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2014e.html#49 Before the Internet: The golden age 
of online service
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2014f.html#86 Is end of mainframe near ?

-- 
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

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