> Okay, today I picked up a MicroVAX II.  This thing is about twice as wide
> as I was expecting it to be -- it doesn't look like any MicroVAX II's I've
> ever seen.  (Keep in mind I haven't seen too many). Can someone help me
> identify it beyond its fundamental MicroVAXness?  I'd be curious at to
> what sets this particular beast apart from it's slightly slimmer brothers
> -- apart from its obvious larger dimensions.

You've got a Microvax II in a BA123 cabinet - the ones you've
seen before must've been BA23 cabinets.  Generally, the cards
in the backplane are much more interesting than the cabinet holding the
backplane.

A brief summary of the features of the two cabinets:

				BA23		BA123
-----------------------------------------------------
Max number of cards		8		12
Max Number of drives		2		5
Number of CD-bus slots		3		4
Number of power supplies	1		2
Rack-mountable?			Yes		No
KDA50 supported?		No		Yes

The fact that a BA23 has only one power supply was the reason
for the KDA50 never being officially supported by DEC in this box.
(There is a dual-BA23 configuration that supports the KDA50, but
the BA23 with the KDA50 isn't supposed to have much else in the
way of power-hungry cards in it.  A sure way to smoke the power wiring
harness in a BA23 is to put a KDA50 in it along with a bunch of
other cards!)

There's also a BA213 (skunk box) cabinet, though you're far likelier
to see a KA650 or KA655 ("Microvax III") in one of these than you
are to find a KA630 (Microvax II) in one.

Tim. (shoppa@triumf.ca)