[Info-vax] Moving away from OpenVMS

[Keith Parris]

On 5/16/2012 1:08 AM, Eric Smith wrote:
> So the writing appears to be on the wall, and after scouring the web
> and chatting to colleagues, I've finally been convinced that our large
> business-critical application currently running on OpenVMS (IA64) has
> to be moved to something that will be supported fifteen years down the
> line.

Eric, what CPU architecture are you running on today?

Based on past history, OpenVMS itself is very likely to still be 
supported fifteen years down the road. Martin Fink of HP has publicly 
committed to "more than 10 years" of support 
(http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/Mission-Critical-Computing-Blog/HP-puts-customers-first-and-remains-committed-to-Integrity/ba-p/89983), 
and he's most likely referring there to hardware support. Software 
support typically goes on for much longer. For example, the last VAX 
system was sold in 2000, and according to 
http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/openvms_supportchart.html HP still 
supports OpenVMS on VAX 22 years later.

So hardware support is the crucial item. HP officially supports hardware 
for a minimum of 5 years after last sale, but the actual support life is 
typically much longer (and based on availability of spare parts). 
Although "officially" HP stopped selling Alpha systems in 2007 (upgrades 
until 2008), I'm working with a customer who just got two new-to-them 
GS-1280 32-CPU systems from HP Financial Services recently (this 
Spring). (And some customers choose to get around the potential end to 
hardware support by moving to emulation technology on modern hardware 
platforms.)

If you're on Itanium, things are even better. Even if Kittson or 
Kittson+ turns out to be the last Itanium CPU generation developed by 
Intel, you should easily be able to run machines based on those CPUs out 
to at least 15 years from now. Press reports quote an Intel rep. saying 
HP has access to Itanium microprocessors from Intel through at least 
2022, and can extend that even longer if they wish 
(http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2170327/hp-force-intel-develop-itanium-2022). 
So if HP can sell Itanium-based systems through at least 2022, and 
there's a minimum of 5 years of hardware support after the last sale, 
that's your 15 years right there.

So there doesn't seem to be a need for panic at this point.