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HP OpenVMS Version 8.2 for HP Integrity server and AlphaServer systems—new features and benefits

HP OpenVMS Version 8.2 is both the first production release of the OpenVMS operating system on HP Integrity servers, and a new HP OpenVMS AlphaServer system release. OpenVMS v8.2 includes HP Volume Shadowing support for host-based mini-merge and infrastructure changes to support performance and scalability enhancements in future HP OpenVMS releases, as well as updates to security and standards. This release will also include support for mixed architecture AlphaServer system and Integrity server clusters of up to 16 total nodes (up to 8 Integrity servers and 8 AlphaServer systems) with shared fibre channel storage.

HP OpenVMS v8.2 for Integrity servers includes support for the rx1600-2, rx2600-2, and rx4640-8 systems. HP OpenVMS v8.2 also supports further rollout of the AlphaServer EV7 platform chip speed increases, as well as operating system and SMP performance enhancements.

The following tables describe the new features and enhancements included in HP OpenVMS v8.2 for Integrity servers, AlphaServer systems, and associated products.

Note: The information included in this document is subject to change.
Dated: May 5, 2005

Warranted pairs and upgrade paths

Features Benefits
Introduction of mixed OpenVMS AlphaServer system and Integrity server clusters
  • Support for up to 16 total nodes (up to 8 Integrity servers and 8 AlphaServer systems)
  • Warranted pairs support for v8.2 include: AlphaServer systems v7.3-2 and v8.2, Integrity servers v8.2
  • Upgrade paths supported for OpenVMS on AlphaServer systems include:
    • v7.3-2 to v8.2
    • v7.3-1 to v8.2
  • OpenVMS v8.2 for Integrity servers requires a fresh installation
  • Allows OpenVMS customers to easily add HP Integrity servers into their existing AlphaServer system clusters
  • Ensures full investment protection
  • Delivers agility
  • Retains high RoIT
  • Also supports HP OpenVMS v8.2 for AlphaServer systems and OpenVMS v7.3 for VAX systems as a supported mixed-architecture cluster pair

System and options support

Features Benefits
Introduction of OpenVMS support on HP Integrity servers
  • rx1600-2 - 1-2P; 1.0 GHz
  • rx2600-2 - 1-2P; 1.0, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 GHz
  • rx4640-8 - 1-4P; 1.3, 1.5 GHz
  • rx4640 - 2-8P (dual-core) ; 1.1 GHz
  • rx1620 - 1.6GHz/3MB 267FSB (DP)
  • rx1620 - 1.3GHz/3MB (DP)
  • rx2620 - 1.6GHz/3MB (DP)
  • rx2620 - 1.3GHz/3MB (DP)
  • rx2620 - 1.6GHz/6MB
  • rx4640 - 1.6GHz/6MB
  • rx4640 - 1.5GHz/4MB
  • Fast Bundle: rx4640 4CPU confiig 1.6GHz/9MB
  • Provides customers with the ability to run their OpenVMS applications on industry-standard HP Integrity servers
Storage connectivity on HP Integrity servers
  • Direct attached SCSI
  • Fibre Channel SAN
  • Smart Array Backplane RAID
  • Allows for connectivity to common storage infrastructure between both AlphaServer system and Integrity server environments
    • HSG, EVA, MSA 1000, XP
  • Allows compatibility with AlphaServer system direct-attached environments
Add-in graphics on HP Integrity servers
  • ATI Radeon 7500 2D/3D (AB551A)
  • Supports the AB551A software update as of April 18, 2005 (will be included in future versions of OpenVMS)
  • Provides 2D and 3D multi-head graphics support with OpenVMS v8.2 for Integrity servers
  • Software patch available from the ITRC Web site (download the VMS82_GRAPHICS-V0100 patch kit)
LAN Options on HP Integrity servers
  • 5701 (10/100/1000 Ethernet)
  • 8255x (10/100/1000 Ethernet)
  • Supports industry-leading Intel and Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet controllers with backward compatibility with fast and standard Ethernet connectivity
Cluster interconnects on HP Integrity servers
  • Gigabit and 10/100 Ethernet
  • Allow seamless connectivity to existing HP OpenVMS cluster environments
Support for new AlphaServer system EV7z speedup for AlphaServer systems ES47, ES80, and GS1280
  • Replaces EV79
  • Provides continued performance improvements on HP AlphaServer systems

OpenVMS on Integrity servers licensing and service plans

Features Benefits
Introduction of operating environment (OE) packages on HP Integrity servers
  • Foundation OE—an entry-level, Internet ready, rich feature set

  • Enterprise OE—a higher cost feature set

  • Mission Critical OE—a premium feature set

  • Simplifies ordering and software deployment
  • Enables straightforward installation of OEs from a single DVD
  • Is available only on HP Integrity servers

  • FOE offers an alternative for price-sensitive customers

  • EOE enhances the customer experience in areas of manageability, single-system availability, and performance

  • MCOE delivers the ultimate customer experience in terms of multi-system availability and workload management

Introduction of per processor licensing on HP Integrity servers
  • Per Processor License (PPL) for all OE packages and most layered products
  • Concurrent use licenses for compilers
  • A single license offer per product
  • Increases granularity so that the customer pays only for exactly what they need
  • Improves flexibility because licensing is per-processor, not per box, enabling the customer to move assets as needed
  • Accommodates partitioning by allowing the use of different types of OEs in different hardware partitions and different operating systems
  • Enables customers to purchase processors and software to meet their needs over time
License management enhancements on HP Integrity servers
  • Support for Integrity OE packages
  • Support for upgrading, downgrading, or changing the content of an OE without reboot on Integrity servers
  • New tools such as a compliance manager
  • Key fulfillment (electronic and paper)
  • Offers easier license management
  • Simplifies license administration by requiring fewer license Product Authorization Keys for Integrity servers than for AlphaServer systems
  • Utilizes a "soft" compliance manager that provides for continued system and license availability in the event of insufficient PPL licenses, giving customers time to bring their servers up to appropriate compliance levels
Introduction of Software Services on HP Integrity servers
  • Common services for both products and Operating Environments for HP-UX and OpenVMS on Integrity servers
  • Makes it easier to sell upfront services with a system sale because customers can purchase the same services for all operating systems that run on Integrity servers
  • Simplifies contracts by enabling customers to have one contract that covers services for all systems in the same environment
  • Streamlines software update distributions for products included in an OE, as well as for separately saleable layered products, by making them available for release on the same quarterly schedule
  • Gives customers additional software update alternatives—instead of automatically receiving software updates on DVD, customers may sign up through the IT Resource Center for access to the Software Update Manager (SUM), which provides e-mail notification and fulfillment information (software download or physical delivery of a DVD) when a new product release is available
License trade-in policy
  • Support Customers
  • Non-support Customers
  • Provides Support Customers with 100 percent License Investment Protection with the purchase of a one-year service agreement (Must include software updates service that provides "License to Use" new software revisions)

  • Provides non-support customers with 60 percent License Investment Protection with the purchase of a one-year pre-paid service agreement

UNIX and Linux interoperability

Features Benefits
C RTL enhancements
  • C RTL—delivering UNIX-style APIs on OpenVMS
  • File Lock APIs
  • statvfs/fstatvfs
  • Stnd stat struct
  • Improves ease of porting and developing UNIX/Linux applications
  • Increases usability by offering UNIX/Linux interoperability, which allows users familiar with the UNIX command line to easily interface with OpenVMS
GNV enhancements
  • vi (vim.org implementation)
  • gnuTAR
  • Improvements to Make and Configure routines
  • Allows applications written in UNIX to be compiled onto OpenVMS systems with greater ease
Pthreads enhancements
  • The POSIX threads library now supports process-shared mutexes and condition variables
  • Allows UNIX applications that use process-shared mutexes and condition variables to be more easily ported to OpenVMS
HP OpenVMS Migration Software for HP Alpha to Integrity Servers (OMSAIS)
  • New migration tool that provides the capability to translate executable and shareable OpenVMS AlphaServer system images to functionally equivalent images that run on OpenVMS for Integrity servers
  • Available for download from the OpenVMS Web site
  • Allows migration of applications from AlphaServer systems to Integrity servers when source code is not available
  • Allows migration of translated images on AlphaServer systems to Integrity servers
  • Requires no additional license for software installation or use
  • Includes language support for C, C++, Fortran, and Cobol

Reliability, scalability, and performance features

Features Benefits
Host Based Mini-Merge (HBMM)
  • Allows a "minimum" merge of only shadow set changes (rather than the currently-required "full" merge) when a member of an OpenVMS cluster is removed
  • Allows a mini-merge to occur on any type of storage (except CI or DSSI attached storage) that is utilized in a Host-Based Volume Shadowing shadow set
  • Improves performance of shadow set merge operations
  • Provides more efficient backup management
  • Offers support on OpenVMS v7.3-2 in H204
LAN failover improvements
  • Expanded to support DE500 NIC and jumbo-frame Gigabit Ethernet NIC cards
  • Supports all supported NIC types and Options LAN failover
  • Improves high-availability capabilities and further reduces downtime due to a bad card or cable
Extended lock value blocks
  • Larger OpenVMS Distributed Lock Manager value block (up from 16 bytes to 64 bytes)
  • No impact to any existing applications with this feature
  • Enables programming changes being made to improve the scaling of an application to take advantage of the additional space in the value block
System service logging
  • Records information about system service activity for:
    • Exec and kernel mode services
    • Execlet and privileged shareable image services
    • A specific process
  • Improves serviceability and troubleshooting
Fast UCB Create/Delete
  • Faster process for creating and deleting UCBs when a larger number of devices exist
  • Improves the performance of the I/O subsystem
TCP/IP scalable kernel

 

  • Improves the performance of network applications on SMP systems

OpenVMS for Integrity servers porting new features

Features Benefits
System Dump Analyzer
  • New commands and qualifiers added for use with OpenVMS for Integrity servers, including new commands for analyzing the extended file cache (XFC)
  • Improves the ability to analyze a running OpenVMS system or crash dumps

General user features

Features Benefits
DCL enhancements
  • New qualifiers: SHOW SYSTEM DIRECTORY, SEARCH, DELETE
  • New features: Create/Mailbox, Show Fastpath
  • New functions: F$LICENSE, F$FID_TO_NAME
  • Includes customer-requested enhancements that make it easier to use, manage and maintain OpenVMS systems
  • Provides useability features that make OpenVMS a better development platform
Monitor Utility
  • VAX system PL/1 code converted to C
  • Monitor is now Native
  • Improved data collection algorithms
  • Includes numerous performance improvements to reduce overhead
  • Improves compatibility for applications reading Monitor records

Security

Features Benefits
Kerberos v2.1 for OpenVMS
  • Based on MIT Kerberos v5 Release 1.2.6 with CERT patches up to Release 1.2.8
  • Provides support for both Kerberos clients and servers on OpenVMS for Integrity servers, AlphaServer systems, and VAX systems
HP SSL V1.2
  • Based on OpenSSL 0.9.7d
  • Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the open-standard security protocol for the secure transfer of sensitive information over the Internet
  • Provides security for passing data over the network and support for the latest encryption standards
  • Provides secure communications between two nodes over TCP/IP
  • Enables POP and IMAP to take advantage of OpenVMS SSL to provide highly secure network mail
  • Provides support for HP SSL on OpenVMS for Integrity servers, AlphaServer systems, and VAX systems
Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA)
  • Allows for common encryption to be used on UNIX as well as OpenVMS
  • Allows verification of authenticity of downloads and installations of OpenVMS software
  • Common security platform allows for security applications to be easily moved between OpenVMS and other CDSA aware platforms
  • Includes enhancements that validate HP extremely secure operating systems patches
Buffer overflow protection
  • Prevents against unauthorized code execution by setting no Execute on stack and user allocated pages
  • Prevents against the latest form of security vulnerability
  • Supported on OpenVMS for Integrity servers only

Networking

Features Benefits
Libpcap library and tcpdump updates
  • Support for libpcap API, a system-independent interface for user-level packet capture
  • Support for tcpdump v3.8.3, a packet tracing tool
  • Provides tools that help to trace and diagnose network problems
IPv6 configuration support and enhancements
  • Provides more configuration options through an enhanced IPv6 configuration procedure
  • Delivers FailSAFE IP support for IPv6, including new ifconfig commands
  • Includes SSH support for IPv6
  • Offers PATHWORKS Internet Protocol (PWIP) driver support for IPv6
  • Features Network Time Protocol (NTP) support for IPv6
Support for Network Time Protocol (NTP)
  • Supports NTP Version 4.2.0
  • Retains backward compatibility with NTP Version 3 and NTP Version 2, but not with NTP Version 1
  • Provides increased security over NTP Version 1

System management

Features Benefits
The Data Collector (TDC)
  • Used to gather performance data for systems running v7.3-2 or later
  • Collects and stores the following types of system performance data:
    • Cluster configurations and communications
    • CPU utilization
    • Disk performance
    • Systemwide performance metrics
    • System parameters
    • Process utilization
  • Allows customer to gather performance data on AlphaServer systems and Integrity servers and create user applications to retrieve the data from files