Communicating and moving binary data between VAX/VMS and Unix systems is a lot more complicated than transferring simple ASCII text files between the two, but London-based Communic8 Migration Software Ltd – set up in March this year – is now offering communications, file and data transfer software from Denver, Colorado-based Accelr8 Technology Corp and KI Research Inc, which it claims can do the job. KiNET enables Unix systems to operate as a fully-functioning node in a DECnet environment, it costs UKP2,000 for Sun Microsystems workstations, and UKP4,000 for an IBM RS/6000 implementation. Accelr8 – which provides a VMS command-line and all VMS utilities on Unix, and converts data files between the two environments is UKP8,000 on Sun workstations and UKP10,000 on IBM’s RS/6000. The software also runs on Data General’s AViiON workstations, though no prices were available. There are already a couple of thousand users of the software in the UK according to Communic8’s Keith Shipton, who says that banks, including Barclays, are particularly interested in the software for integrating their systems. Ki is ready with an OS/2 version.
