Living with Alpha: Finding Help

Not long ago, if you wanted to find native applications to run on an Alpha platform, you had to work at it. No books, magazines, or Web sites existed. Now you can easily find more information about Alpha than you can keep up with.

Adding fuel to this explosion of Alpha information is the rapidly growing list of native applications that run on Alpha: The number of Alpha-specific applications jumped from fewer than 2000 in the spring of 1997 to more than 2800 the following autumn. And the first of the new breed of Alpha-only applications are making their debut. Oracle, for example, recently released the Windows NT Very Large Memory (VLM) version of the Oracle database, which can take advantage of the 64-bit addressing capability available only on Alpha. The VLM database gives Alpha users more RAM for an application than an x86 system's entire address space contains.

If you're an Alpha addict, staying up to date with your favorite microprocessor technology and operating system family can be a full-time job. I'm here to help. I'll give you a road map to navigate through the growing maze of information about running NT on Alpha. I'll outline basic information categories, name the most helpful resources, and tell you where to find them (sidebar, "Alpha NT Resources," page 146, lists them). You can then obtain the knowledge you need to integrate NT and Alpha easily and successfully.

Hard Copy
Underestimating the power of the printed word is not wise, even in this age of instant global electronic gratification powered by the Internet. Various magazines and books address Alpha platforms on an equal basis with legacy x86 platforms, and some publications even focus exclusively on Alpha.

No systems manager or power user should be without Microsoft Windows NT Workstation Resource Kit or Microsoft Windows NT Server Resource Kit. Each book includes a CD-ROM full of tools and utilities for the Alpha platform. Many tools in these resource kits are essential for a well-run shop. My favorite tools include the Remote Command Service (a simplistic, albeit functional, rlogin or Telnet service), ShareUI (a tool for administering network shares through Explorer), and QuickRes (a taskbar tray tool for quickly changing screen resolutions).

The hardcore Alpha programmer can look for the second edition of Alpha AXP Architecture Reference Manual by Richard L. Sites and Richard T. Witek, the engineers who developed the Alpha specifications. This book thoroughly discusses Alpha internals and specifications and presents information on the NT-specific PALcode. The second edition includes technical descriptions for porting NT to Alpha and for other extensions to the Alpha architecture, such as the motion video instructions (MVI).

In December 1997, IDG Books Worldwide published Optimizing Windows NT by Sean K. Daily. The book wasn't available at press time. Sean Daily says that although the book is not Alpha-specific, it discusses Alpha issues and products, and several chapters have a great deal of Alpha-related information. For example, the book includes the section, "Killer Hardware for Windows NT," which covers the Alpha platform and several Alpha-specific technologies, including 64-bit PCI and FX!32. The book also includes a CD-ROM with Alpha versions of various software.

Programs
If you're a developer, you'll want to investigate Digital's Association of Software and Application Partners (ASAP) program. The ASAP program fosters contact and interaction between Digital and independent software developers and vendors. The program focuses on development tools and resources for OpenVMS, Digital UNIX, and NT on the Alpha and x86 platforms. The membership fee for the ASAP program is $192 per year in the United States, and benefits include discounts on Digital software and hardware, access to three

magazines, admission to members-only sections on ASAP's Web site, and inclusion in the Alpha Applications Catalog and other marketing resources. Even if you don't subscribe to the ASAP program, you'll find useful information on the Web site. It offers a wealth of pointers and documentation on Alpha development.

The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) now offers more Alpha content than it has before. Within the past few months, several key Alpha-native tools, including Visual C++, Visual BASIC, Word, and Excel, have been added to MSDN's Universal Subscription kit (in addition to the server and client tools that have always been available with the NT kit). MSDN focuses on legacy x86 development tools, but its growing number of Alpha kits and frequent Alpha updates are worth the subscription fee.

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