[Info-vax] VAX VMS going forward (VAXELN)

[johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk]

On Sunday, 26 July 2020 20:14:41 UTC+1, David Wade  wrote:
> On 26/07/2020 19:32, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> > On 7/26/2020 2:16 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> >> Den 2020-07-24 kl. 23:07, skrev Jan-Erik Söderholm:
> >>> Den 2020-07-22 kl. 16:35, skrev Jan-Erik Söderholm:
> >>>> And what say the sites still using/running VAXELN? A major kitchen
> >>>> applience manufacturer in Sweden had multiple VAXELN system for
> >>>> their assembly lines up to at least 3-4 years ago. Not sure of
> >>>> the actual status today...
> >>>
> >>> Just got a reply back. That site has 11 VAXELN systems in production.
> >>> Don't know if it is still VAX hardware or if they run on emulation...
> >>
> >> These 11 VAXELN systems seems to be mostly VAX 4000-500. No emulators.
> >> Running assembly lines in a factory...
> > 
> > There 4000-500's must be 25+ years old.
> > 
> > I would consider relying on so old HW to be a business risk.
> > 
> > Arne
> > 
> Depends on the stock of spares, and skill level. Trouble is many 
> businesses have a spares that they never test and don't understand that 
> things on shelves deteriorate.
> 
> The big problem with an update is that in a factory setting it might be 
> harder to get the same level of reliability over time.
> 
> Dave

And depending on what the factory does, the cost of migration and 
recertification on a new platform (hardware and/or software) might 
exceed the "business risk" of running on obsolete (but potentially 
tried tested proven and certified) hardware and software and 
processes. 

Especially if the system is dependent on VAXELN, which DEC HQ in
its infinitesimal wisdom decided could be replaced by a variant of 
VxWorks using Tru64/Alpha host and a tiny subset of Alpha or Motorola 
targets. It would be a "re-architect the application from the ground 
up" job. Can you imagine the customer response? I don't need to.