[Info-vax] VSI: "Official 8.4-1H1 Launch"

[IanD]

On Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 6:38:24 AM UTC+10, Stephen Hoffman wrote:
> "BOLTON, MA, June 1, 2015 - VMS Software, Inc. (VSI) today announced 
> the worldwide availability of VSI OpenVMS Version 8.4-1H1 (Bolton 
> Release) operating system (OS) for HP Integrity servers based on Intel(R) 
> Itanium(R) 9500 series processor. The Bolton Release is the first by VSI 
> under an agreement signed with HP in 2014. The new OS is also 
> compatible with HP Integrity servers running the Intel(R) Itanium(R) 9300 
> series processor. VSI intends to eventually extend support for HP 
> Integrity servers based on all prior versions of the Intel(R) Itanium(R) 
> platform. VSI also reconfirmed plans to offer OpenVMS on x86-based 
> servers by 2018."
> 
> https://www.vmssoftware.com/news/PR20150601/PR20150601_VSI_8.4-IHI.pdf
> https://www.facebook.com/notes/vms-software-inc/official-84-1h1-launch/841747012584528 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Pure Personal Opinion | HoffmanLabs LLC

Good news (even if it doesn't affect anything in my small VMS circle)

By 2018, hmmm, that's 2 1/2 years away from now assuming a December last minute 2017 release - still, this is much better news than VMS had a year ago and it's still quite an aggressive time frame

At least being on the same hardware platform the majority of the world is on (I'll ignore ARM and other mobile stuff) may result in cheaper VMS systems in time, assuming we can start to look at more commodity based hardware options in the years ahead

I guess to start with it will be a port to Intel with as few functional changes as necessary just to get the OS across - more major works and future based changes will come along later

I'm particularly interested in the 'new' file system planned. Not based on spiralog and not based on anything existing is what I think I remember being said at the VMS breakfast, I just hope it's a fully scalable file system all the way up to exascale (I don't care if the hardware cannot make use of it, I just care that it will be a file system to take VMS into the future and not hold it back or seen in the industry as being limited in terms of extensibility)

I guess once the Intel port is performed, other options like Xeon Phi support and even ARM start to be possible, assuming enough profits roll in to enable this to happen 

Then of course there is the big question, what will IT look like in 2 years time - who knows except that data volumes will explode and OS's will need to be able to work with much larger data sets going forward

Certainly interesting days ahead - thanks for the post