OpenVMS Roadmap
Update
The advice given here was based on HP’s announcement in 2013. Following HP’s revisions to the OpenVMS roadmap announced in January 2014, please read RapidGen’s updated guidance on the implications for OpenVMS support.
HP’s Roadmap for Supporting OpenVMS
In June 2013, HP announced several changes to OpenVMS support. HP will
- Sell HP Integrity i2 servers based on Intel Itanium 9300 processors until 2015, and support OpenVMS 8.4 on these servers until 2020.
- Not support OpenVMS 8.4 on HP Integrity i4 servers based on Intel Itanium 9500 processors.
HP offers different levels of support
- EES
- Extended Engineering Support
- MPS
- Mature Product Support
- PVS
- Prior Version Support
- SE
- Sustaining Engineering
- SS
- Standard Support
HP provides support across several server infrastructures for many years to protect your investment, but over time the level of support becomes restricted as shown on the OpenVMS support roadmap.
Your Choices for Your OpenVMS Systems
You have three main choices:
- Update OpenVMS
- Depending on your server model and applications you may be able to update OpenVMS to a more recent version and extend how long your system can be supported.
- This can be a useful short-term solution for some customers, and will normally require a moderate amount of systems testing.
- Emulate OpenVMS*
- You could replace your legacy hardware with a modern PC-class server running OpenVMS emulation software such as AVT or Charon.
- This is often the most cost-effective option as the changes are virtually invisible to your OpenVMS applications.
- Upgrade Hardware
- You can upgrade your servers to HP Integrity i2 servers based on Intel Itanium 9300.
- Organisations choosing this route usually do so as a part of strategic long-term commitment to the Itanium architecture, and will require extensive work to recompile and retest all applications.
*Tru64 emulation is also available for systems running Tru64 Unix.
Your Choice
Contact us for an impartial, professional discussion on your options. We have been helping organisations get the most out of their VMS / OpenVMS systems for 30 years.
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