Number 83 (Update of Volume 8, Issue 4)

Last call for HP’s 3000 improvements

Interex has posted what is likely to be the last System Improvement Ballot (SIB) for the HP 3000, with a voting deadline of Feb. 26. As a 3000 customer you’re being asked to tell HP where to allocate the last of its resources to improve the HP 3000 MPE environment and the IMAGE database.

In a first, the ballot asks customers to identify whether they intend to migrate, homestead, or don't know. We can only hope that every vote counts the same at HP as it builds its final 3000 to-do list.

“Virtual CSY would like to see one last MPE/iX System Improvement Ballot performed," SIG-Migrate chairman Michael Gueterman posted over the Internet, "as they have some resources that they can utilize before going into a purely support mode." Head over to the Interex site to cast your ballot at : www.interex.org/advocacy/survey/mpesib03.html

CSY still has some to-do items left over from last year's SIB, including getting a version of Samba/iX written that can utilize encrypted passwords in lieu of clear-text passwords. Gueterman said he'd heard from HP this Samba enhancement will be arriving in the form of a patch.

The Samba password fix is one of the few that CSY agreed to do on the last ballot. Here's a list of things CSY said they would not do, from the 2002 ballot:

- Port IMAGE to another platform
- Port the CI
- Smooth Posix some more (better integrate with MPE namespace)
- Build more user-level CI functions
- Integrate internal system logging with syslogd
- Port Vplus to HP-UX or Linux
- Allow OP or NM users to kill Inetd

CSY reported last fall they are at work on a project to help HP 3000 disk drives grow as large as 300 Gb per disk.

Notable items that made it to the latest ballot, which the SIGs threw together on very short notice (less than a week), include:

• Support for Gigabit LANs
• Making sure that MPE can mount disks up to 1 terabyte in size, even if it can only use 300 Gb of the disk
• Removing the CPU throttling code on the A-Class and N-Class systems which HP has slowed down to create varying sales prices (after all, HP won't be selling anything but processor upgrades after Oct. 31)
• Licensing SS_Config to qualified third parties for HP 3000 maintenance.

Linux to hit the big screen

In our January Q&A with Minisoft founder Doug Greenup, the leader of the 3000 software house said he was still looking to see if any big customer would break out with a Linux commitment. Does a $200 million a year company that’s won Oscars, then last week posted an impressive $90 million in 2002 profits, qualify as a big customer? Think “Toy Story” and “Monsters Inc.” and you’ll come up with Pixar, which is switching from Unix-based Sun RISC systems to Intel-based Linux systems this year.

CNET reports that the animated film studio is replacing the Sun servers in its render farm, a bank of servers that takes artists’ images and turns them into finished film frames. Think of it as the assembly line in an auto plant if you want to imagine how important the render farm is to Pixar’s revenue stream. The value of this Linux contract might not be all that high, but hey, that’s Linux for you. According to CNET, Pixar is only installing eight new blade servers from RackSaver — but that brings in more than 1,000 of Intel's 2.8GHz Xeon processors.

CNET also reported that a number of film and entertainment studios in the past year have swapped out Unix RISC systems for systems running Linux. You could probably reboot a rendering farm in the event of a problem and not lose millions of dollars in downtime. Not often, though. Pixar looks to be run pretty profitably. We wouldn’t expect a company like that to take an undue risk in going to Linux. The OS will be responsible for “The Incredibles,” Pixar’s holiday 2004 release.

Minisoft sticks to the 3000 as well as the Mac

Minisoft's founder didn't mention it during our January interview, but his company is banking on more than just the 3000's future with its products. Minisoft is also keeping pace with another alternative platform, bringing a new version of Minisoft 92 out next month for the new Mac OS X operating environment. We use OS X here at the NewsWire, and it's one of the best things to happen to the Mac in a long time. We're not bashful about tossing bricks at the shortcomings of Unix compared to the maturity of MPE. But having the Unix heart beating inside our Macs here has delivered the new blood of applications. That's the same kind of promise the HP 3000 began to see realized with its adoption of Posix in MPE: Apache, Samba, DNS servers all arrived. Those kinds of services are all a part of the Mac now, and we're glad to see an established 3000 software shop embracing the Mac's future.

MBS to resell, install Neartek's AMXW emulator

Managed Business Solutions (MBS), one of four North American HP Platinum migration partners, announced a partnership with Neartek, Inc. to resell Neartek’s AMXW 3000 migration software. MBS is also offering an option to deploy the software in-house for those customers who do not have the qualified staff to implement a migration. MBS will also provide ongoing support for AMXW customers. MBS said the partnership benefits enterprises transitioning from the HP 3000 to open system environments, by providing superior services and software that minimize the cost and inconvenience of application migration.  

“MBS’ in-depth transition knowledge and ability to support virtually any application enables us to provide world-class strategic technology planning, transition, and support services, said Anne Foster, MBS Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. “This expertise, combined with Neartek’s proven AMWX migration software, will enable enterprises to seamlessly transition their environment while maximizing profitability.”

AMXW has a 12-year history in the HP 3000 market and a worldwide customer base of more than 300. The migration software is enables organizations to port applications and data to Unix, Windows, or Linux.

VMS: A picture of what MPE might have been

Few technical experts doubt that MPE deserves the rank of most efficient operating environment. But the OS that drives the 3000 fell short in another area, one that became very clear after HP announced the OpenVMS futures last week. HP couldn’t provide the 3000 or MPE with critical mass to escape the orbit of small-minded vendor business calculations.

VMS, the operating system that drove the Digital systems all through the 3000’s heyday, got another lease on life when HP’s engineers got the OS to boot up on an HP i2000 Itanium server. Though VMS can’t outpace MPE for customer loyalty, the Digital-built product is working in more than 400,000 systems. That’s apparently a big enough chunk of business to keep HP from walking away from VMS customers as it’s doing to MPE’s fans.

The successful VMS boot-up came as a result of 19 months of engineering, according to the VMS vice-president quoted in a CNET article. That timeline means that Compaq, which owned VMS in the summer of 2001, made a commitment to bringing VMS to Itanium at about the same time HP was deciding to rescind its promise of porting MPE to Itanium. It may have all been about market size. But it also looks like Compaq made a decision in favor of its legacy business -- at the same time HP turned away. We won’t expect HP to make a different decision in the future, if it’s ever again faced with sticking to a product outside the beaten path. In order to maintain the support of a major vendor, critical mass is critical indeed.

Get board with Interex

The user group that started with HP 3000 volunteers is looking for a few more to serve at the board of director level. Interex is seeking HP 3000 customers who want to work for the user group as volunteer directors of an organization whose annual revenues were $10 million just a year or so ago.

Just one seat is up for election this year, and the nomination applications must be in the Interex board's hands by May 1. The election for the post takes place in September. Whether you want to see some changes made in the user group's mission, or you want the elected board to accomplish its stated goals, working from the board is the best way to turn opinions into action.

Interex will send a Board Candidate Packet to all applicants. E-mail your request to Gayle Crossley at Interex at crossley@interex.org.

Speaking of the Interex board, it recently announced its selection of officers for the panel. Barry Breig, an IT vice-president at Cincinnati-based marketing firm Triplefin, is the new chairman. Outgoing chair Bob Combs ends his board term this year by taking the non-voting past chairman post. Other directors named to officer spots: vice-chairman Gaylord Maines, secretary Vickie Timms and treasurer David Pellone.

Manufacturing conference opens registrations

The Computer Aided Manufacturing User Society (CAMUS) has kicked off registration for its 2003 meeting in Dallas. The May 4-7 conference provides another opportunity for sites who are using MANMAN to plot out their application futures, now that MANMAN's owners SSA Global Technologies have said their enhancements to the application will be limited. MANMAN experts The Support Group say the app can be vital for at least another 10 years, while SSA GT has other products to offer (on platforms including Windows NT, Unix and IBM's iSeries) as replacements.

The Hotel Inter-Continental hosts the meeting. Registration is as low as $500 for CAMUS members if you sign up before March 14. Networking is a big plus of attending a conference in person; the regional user groups of CAMUS have a lunch scheduled for this purpose on May 6. Later that day you can network in those platform shoes you left back in your closet in 1980, when the group hosts a '70s Party. There's more information on "Harnessing Change: Back to Basics" at the CAMUS Web site, www.camus.org/Conferences/2003-CAMUS 

SSA GT is also asking after the health of its MANMAN/HP customers in a new online survey, one that it expects will take about 15-20 minutes to complete. The vendor noted that HP announced it's getting out of the 3000 business in a few years, and reports that "To make sure we are supporting you in the best way possible with this issue, we would like your assistance. Please take a few moments to complete a simple on-line survey regarding your future plans related to the MANMAN/HP Business Application at www.ssagt.com/manman."

SSA GT said its survey will close on March 1, and customers can get results from Peigi Jeanblanc, SSA GT Solutions Manager, at 312.258.6243 or pjeanbla@ssax.com.