Turnkey cloud services mirror 3000 roots
May 8, 2017
Re-hosting HP 3000 applications keeps getting less complex. Managers who homestead once had to locate an HP 3000 which had similar specs, one that could preserve their application license levels. Because it was an HP box, their auditors wanted them to execute an MPE license transfer with HP. More paperwork, like finding a 20-year-old bill of sale.
When Stromasys virtualization showed up, the mandate for specialized MPE Hewlett-Packard servers fell out of the equation. Configuration was still required, though, sometimes because the Intel servers in the strategy were already otherwise engaged in a customer’s datacenter.
In each of those formulas, companies continue their local management of hardware, storage and networking. It’s an On Premises choice, called On Prem in some planning sessions. Cloud computing is the opposite of On Prem. It is changing the need for hardware in the datacenter. The strategy now has an official role in virtualized 3000 practices.
Stromasys recently introduced Oracle’s cloud services as an option for Charon HPA, the emulator that transforms an Intel server into a PA-RISC system. The company also issued a notice that Charon works with all other cloud computing options.
Charon has been ready for the cloud for several years. The new element is a packaged set of software, support services, and provisioned cloud computing without a meter for usage. Director of HP 3000 Business Development Doug Smith at Stromasys said the cloud equation best fits archival installations and smaller, A-Class-grade production shops.
Stromasys completed testing for its cloud-based Charon in November of 2014. During the next year the company took an agnostic approach to cloud hosting. Whatever service a customer preferred was worked into Charon installations. Stromasys would also recommend a provider.
The newest formula is an end-to-end bundle that includes unlimited cloud capacity, making it more like a turnkey, locally-provisioned MPE/iX host. HP 3000 customers liked turnkey datacenters. Find a customer from the 1980s and the 1990s and you’ll uncover a manager who wanted more homogenous computing. Virtualization in the cloud is a way to release On Prem operations to trusted third parties.
The unmetered option for Charon on the cloud comes in the Oracle Cloud offering. The more dug-in suppliers of cloud Infrastructure as a Service require customers to manage separate billing, usage rate metering and support. A company looking to migrate off HP’s 3000 hardware might have existing relationships with Amazon Web Services, or Azure or Datapipe or Rackspace. All of these will work with Charon HPA.
The novelty of Oracle Cloud plus Charon is its turnkey nature. Turnkey has a resonance with the 3000 customer, especially those who found that heterogeneous IT had downsides. The required amount of management increased as IT got more heterogeneous.
Most 3000 sites have lean management resources. Getting a single-call arrangement for legacy apps and hosting, while being able to leave On Prem behind, should interest some sites. Especially those who might be finding that even a DR-status 3000, powered down for many years while it keeps the MPE apps available, is a strategy with measurable risks.