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Document:	Shannon Knows Compaq VAX to the Future: The Path Forward for the VAX Customer Base
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Shannon Knows Compaq
October 1, 1999

Volume 6, Number 27

AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION NOT AFFILIATED WITH COMPAQ COMPUTER CORPORATION

V AX to the Future: The Path Forward for the VAX Customer Base
With well over half a million systems sold over the course of more
than two decades, VAX/VMS ranks
as one of the industry’s most popular commercial and technical computing platforms. Over the past 22
years, the VAX architecture
amassed an enviable track record
including a uniprocessor performance range of one to more than
160 across three technology generations, a user base in excess of
10M, consistent price-and-performance improvements, and a leadership role in distributed computing.
The VAX 11/780, introduced in
1977, set the standard for 32-bit
superminicomputers, and the 1983
debut of VMScluster software extended mainframe-class scalability
and availability to the computing
midrange. Two years later, the MicroVAX II dramatically reduced the
cost of 32-bit computing by delivering superminicomputer performance at 16-bit minicomputer
prices. Today, the OpenVMS operating system, developed in conjunction with the VAX architecture, is the standard by which “betyour-business” computing is judged.
History and the ever-accelerating
pace of technological change prove
that all computer architectures
have finite lifespans. The 32-bit
VAX architecture is no exception.
Concurrent with the introduction
of the last VAX enhancement in
late 1996, Digital published a VAX
product roadmap with a clearly-defined Y2K end point. During the
fall 1998 eureka98 and DECUS US

In This 6-Page Issue
Challenges and Opportunities for
the VAX Customer Base
Shannon knows Compaq

Chapter symposia, Compaq delivered VAX Update presentations
that provided additional details on
the VAX roadmap and end-of-life
schedule. And several months ago,
Compaq announced last order and
delivery dates for VAX systems.
The last order date for VAXstation
4000 systems was September 30,
1999; VAX 4000 and MicroVAX
3100 platforms will be orderable
through September 30, 2000.
While the majority of VAX/VMS
customers already have moved on
to more capable, scalable, cost-effective platforms, and while Compaq will continue to support the
VAX platform for at least a decade
beyond its retirement, the handwriting is on the wall for the remainder of the VAX base. Platform
replacement no longer is a matter
of “should I stay or should I go” but
“how do I get there from here?”
This issue of Shannon Knows
Compaq examines some of the options available to VAX/VMS customers, and offers our suggestions
on the best ways to “get there from
here.” We’ll also discuss why Compaq’s Alpha architecture is the destination of choice for VAX users.
The VAX End Game
The phase-out of the VAX platform should come as no surprise to
the customer base. In fact, the retirement of a 20-year-old hardware
architecture reflects a natural evolutionary process. When the first
PDP-11 systems were introduced in
the 1960s, their 16-bit architecture
reflected cutting-edge technology.
By the early 1970s, ongoing advances in hardware design, declining
memory costs, and growing appli-

cation requirements rendered the
evolution to a 32-bit architecture a
foregone conclusion. Digital and a
host of rival minicomputer vendors
acted accordingly, designing and deploying a variety of 32-bit platforms during the mid to late 1970s.
The 32-bit architecture that characterized the superminicomputer
generation was state-of-the-art
when the VAX 11/780 debuted in
1977, but by the mid-1980s hardware designers concluded that 32bit systems would be supplanted by
64-bit platforms in the coming
decade. Once again, technological
advances, decreasing component
costs, and increasing application
requirements precipitated the transition to a more capable and scalable architectural environment.
The transition is in no way related
to, nor has it been accelerated by,
the acquisition of Digital by Compaq Computer Corporation. Indeed,
when Alpha systems were announced on November 10, 1992,
Digital made it clear that the 64-bit
Alpha architecture would supplant
the 32-bit incumbent based on customer adoption rates. During the
Alpha announcement, Digital executives suggested that the architectural transition would take about
four years. This assertion was based
on historical evidence, including
the PDP-8 to PDP-11 and PDP-11
to VAX transitions. Customer buying decisions and shipment rates for
new Alpha systems validated the
corporate party line: by 1995, Alpha shipments exceeded VAX shipments by a significant majority. As
of last year, annual VAX revenues
declined to ~$200M while Alpha
revenues now exceed $4B per year
and continue to grow.
continued on page 2

An Independent Publication not affiliated with Compaq Computer Corporation

October 1, 1999

continued from page 1

As with the PDP-11 before it, the
VAX architecture did not suffer
overnight obsolescence with the introduction of a more capable successor. Just prior to the debut of
the first Alpha systems, advances
in process technology endowed the
VAX architecture with a thirteenfold performance improvement
over a 39-month period. Moreover, VAX systems enjoyed several
significant price and performance
enhancements in the Alpha era.
Product refreshes incorporating
faster CPUs, industry-standard
memory, new I/O and mass storage
options, and new packaging reflected a substantial ongoing investment
in the VAX customer base.
But all good things must come to a
natural end, and such is the case
with the VAX architecture. Not
only have VAX systems lagged in
contrast with the price-and-performance improvements exhibited by
Alpha and competitive platforms,
but architectural limitations, I/O
and peripheral support, applications and OS compatibility, and
scalability issues increasingly marginalize the VAX platform.
The Economic Imperative
VAX systems no longer are economically compelling to Compaq
or to the customer base. A comparison of entry VAX and Alpha server and workstation prices underscores the growing disparity in the
cost of these systems. For example,
an entry Compaq AlphaServer
DS10 OpenVMS system with

Shannon Knows Compaq
An independent publication not affiliated with or
supported by Compaq Computer Corporation
ISSN 1079-4379
is published at least twice monthly by

Terry C. Shannon
135 Leland Farm Road
Ashland, MA 01721
+1-508-881-5563 (voice, no fax)
shannon@world.std.com (email)
http://www.acersoft.com (web)
Copyright © 1999 Terry C. Shannon

Shannon knows Compaq

128MB of memory and a 10GB
IDE disk lists for about $7,400. A
comparable MicroVAX 3100 Model 88 system with 16MB of memory and a 1GB disk costs $19,600.
Similarly, an OpenVMS-based AlphaStation XP900 system with
128MB of memory lists for
$7,298, almost $10K less than the
comparable entry VAX offering,
the $17,285 16MB VAXstation
4000-96. In most cases, system
options and peripherals are more
attractively priced on the Alpha
platform: a 64MB memory module
for an AlphaStation XP900 lists
for $538, while 64MB of ECC
memory for a VAXstation is priced
at $4,160. When items such as
maintenance costs and power consumption are factored in to the
equation, Alpha systems offer far
superior total cost of ownership.

tems. Mass storage represents an
ever-increasing portion of hardware
expenditures, and the VAX platform is incompatible with industrystandard PCI-based controllers and
storage devices. Moreover, emerging I/O technologies such as Fibre
Channel, Memory Channel, and
System I/O are not supported on
VAX systems. Compaq and other
leading vendors are now articulating
next-generation storage initiatives
predicated on these faster, better,
cheaper interconnect and storage
technologies. In a business environment characterized by steadily rising mass storage and I/O bandwidth
requirements and declining product
costs, the ability to fully capitalize
on the latest and most cost-effective storage products and technologies is a key customer concern.
The 33rd Bit

The End of the Line
The VAX platform received its last
major overhaul nearly three years
ago. The VAX 4000 Model 108
“Catamount” system introduced in
late 1996 represented the final significant VAX system enhancement.
As the VAX product management
team stated during the VAX 4000
Model 108 rollout, no further enhancements are planned. Due to architectural limitations, ongoing development of 32-bit VAX microprocessors ceased with the 1996
announcement. All future VAX orders will be fulfilled with the existing inventory of CPU chips and
components. As Compaq has noted, supply constraints have reduced
inventories of certain VAX systems
to what the firm calls “finite quantities.” Similar constraints increasingly affect the availability of addon or replacement parts: owners of
older -generation VAXes often find
it difficult to obtain replacement
components for their systems.
Peripheral Interests
Recent advances in I/O subsystem
and peripheral technology transcend the capabilities of VAX sys-

A 32-bit architecture is an anachronism in a 64-bit world. During
the past five years, computer system “metrics” have taken on an
entirely new dimension. Processor
performance remains a primary
consideration, but transcending the
limitations of 32-bit CPU architectures is now equally important.
Memory prices continue to plummet, rendering addressing space at
least as important as megahertz
ratings. Today, 64-bit memory addressing is a key component of the
plan-to-purchase decision. The oftdelayed but highly-publicized Intel
IA-64 architecture, not to mention
Hewlett Packard’s end-of-life PARISC processor family, and Sun Microsystems’ equally-delayed UltraSparc III processor, offer proof
that 64-bitness is now a major concern in the computing mainstream.
Digital first began touting the benefits of larger address spaces when
the 64-bit Alpha architecture and
the 64-bit DEC OSF/1 Unix operating system were introduced in late
1992. For several years thereafter,
Alpha and DEC OSF/1 served as the
industry’s only complete 64-bit
continued on page 3

An Independent Publication not affiliated with Compaq Computer Corporation

October 1, 1999

continued from page 2

hardware/software/applications environment. In April 1995, Oracle
Corporation provided the first
commercial validation of 64-bit
computing during the Oracle7/ AlphaServer 8400 product rollout.
This announcement offered concrete proof of the benefits inherent
in large address spaces, and VLM64
(Very Large Memory-64 Bit Addressing) immediately became a key
product attribute. Rival vendors,
including HP, IBM, SGI, and Sun
Microsystems—who heretofore
minimized the significance of 64bitness—rapidly changed their tune
and their marketing messages.
Given the increasing significance of
64-bit addressing in the commercial
and technical computing environment, and given the increasing
weight of the memory addressing
factor in the plan to purchase decision, the 32-bit architectural limitation of the VAX platform looms
ever larger. Since the VAX architecture reserves only one-half of its
address space for applications, VAX
systems can support applications
no larger than 2GB. The current
Alpha memory management architecture supports up to 8TB of addressable memory; future Alpha
implementations will offer significantly greater addressing support.
The Growing Apps Gap
Emerging standards and declining
ISV support increasingly limit the
VAX applications portfolio. In addition to being incapable of supporting the growing number of applications that exploit very large memory, the VAX architecture’s inability to emulate the IEEE arithmetic
mandated by the Java language
specifications renders the platform
incompatible with applications
based on this pervasive language
and environment.
No less important is partner support: based on reduced customer demand, ISVs are accelerating the retirement of their VAX-based appliShannon knows Compaq

cations. The shrinking applications
base and diminishing ISV support
pose increasing problems for VAX
customers.
Size Does Matter
VAX systems no longer offer competitive performance or scalability.
Although some customers who remain on the VAX platform may be
satisfied with the performance of
their hardware, the “bang for the
buck” metric increasingly favors
system replacement. On the performance front, a top-of-the-line
6-CPU VAX 7860 delivers ~1765
transactions per second while an
eight-processor AlphaServer GS140
6/525 delivers ~12,500 TPS. The
soon-to-ship AlphaServer GS-series
700Mhz EV67 upgrade should provide ~30 percent more performance than the incumbent system.
At the low end, the disparity is
even more pronounced: an entry
MicroVAX 3188 is rated at ~110
TPS, while an entry Compaq AlphaServer DS10 delivers ~2267
TPS. On a raw performance basis,
the DS10 offers more than 20
times the compute power of its
VAX counterpart. On a price-andperformance basis, the Alpha system looks even better: an entry
VAX 3188 goes for $18,700, while
an entry AlphaServer DS10 OpenVMS system costs about $7,400.
Based on cost per transaction, the
entry Alpha system offers more
than 75 times the performance of
its VAX equivalent.
System scalability is another important metric. A fully-configured
VAX 7860 supports a maximum of
six CPUs, while a fully-configured
AlphaServer GS140 currently can
support up to 14 CPUs. Within the
next several months, Compaq will
increase the single-system scalability of enterprise-class AlphaServers
to 16 CPUs; support for 32-processor systems will be forthcoming
thereafter. While few customers require this level of expandability today, the increasing demands that e-

commerce, database, and enterprise
apps impose on hardware resources
render system upgrade and expansion capabilities an important part
of the plan to purchase decision.
Recent scalability-related problems
at e-commerce sites such as eBay
underscore the critical importance
of hardware “headroom” in the ebusiness realm.
Where Do I Go From Here?
Although Compaq will continue to
support the VAX base for years to
come, it is incumbent upon VAX
customers to begin planning for a
near-term platform transition. A
platform transition—or “migration”—is an inflection point that
provides a natural opportunity for
customers to reevaluate their options and commitments. Faced with
the prospect of rehosting their
mission-critical apps and hardware
infrastructures, savvy customers
will investigate all available alternatives, including those offered by
competitors. In an effort to exploit
this opportunity, several vendors
have targeted the VAX base with
replacement campaigns that include
generous trade-in allowances and
migration assistance.
While these alternatives may seem
appealing to some customers, SKC
maintains that Compaq’s Alpha
platform provides the easiest, most
natural, and most cost-effective
upgrade path for VAX/VMS customers. The relative ease of this
move combines with the price, performance, and expandability advantages of Alpha systems over
their VAX predecessors to make
Alpha the destination of choice for
VAX users. For OpenVMS customers who want to continue to use the
OpenVMS operating system, the
platform replacement decision is
quite simple: Alpha is the only
game in town. However, SKC would
strongly argue that Alpha is an equally attractive platform for customers who choose to migrate to a
Unix or Linux environment.
continued on page 4

An Independent Publication not affiliated with Compaq Computer Corporation

October 1, 1999

continued from page 3

The Three Faces of Migration
Migrations may be inevitable, but
they are never fun, and never pretty. Accordingly, customers should
carefully evaluate the potential disruptiveness of the replacement
path they choose. Depending on
the selected target environment, a
platform transition can be relatively simple, or it can be an exceedingly difficult multidimensional undertaking. As a minimum,
“migrating” customers must replace
their hardware platforms. In a
worst-case scenario, prospective
emigres also must replace their operating systems, middleware, and
applications. Given that a customer’s OS and apps generally represent a far greater financial and intellectual investment than does the
underlying hardware, minimal disruption is Priority One when it
comes to platform transition.
Those OpenVMS customers who
choose a “minimalist” migration
strategy should find the road to Alpha to be a relatively easy path to
take. Compaq's OpenVMS engineers spent more than 200
person-years porting the OpenVMS
OS to the Alpha architecture, and
as a result, a VAX to Alpha transition preserves the bulk of customer
investments in a trusted, familiar,
and mature operating environment.
VAX migration was a high-priority
concern during the development of
the Alpha architecture: SKC estimates that at least one-third of the
~$1.5B research and development
costs associated with the Alpha
program were “migration-related.”
OpenVMS Engineering devoted significant resources to maximizing
VAX-Alpha interoperability, upgrading the OpenVMS OS and key
applications to 64-bit status, and
rendering 32-bit VAX/VMS applications Alpha-ready via the
“VEST” binary code translation
tool. Also known as DECmigrate,
the binary code translation facility
enables VAX users to run the maShannon knows Compaq

jority of their “legacy” VMS applications on Alpha platforms without
recompilation.
Destination Alpha
SKC believes there are a number of
compelling reasons why VAX customers should opt for Alpha-based
solutions. Compaq’s commitment
to Alpha is underscored by the
firm’s decision to base future Himalaya NonStop systems on Alpha
EV7 processors. The formation of
Alpha Processor Incorporated and
Samsung’s adoption of the Alpha
chip also bode well for the proliferation and long-term viability of the
Alpha architecture. The Alpha
OEM marketplace continues to expand, and SKC anticipates the nearterm announcement of a foundry
agreement through which IBM
Corporation will join Intel and
Samsung as Alpha fabricators.
With a few very brief exceptions,
Alpha has been the fastest processor on the planet since its introduction in 1992. The Alpha processor
roadmap portends continued priceand-performance leadership into
the next millennium. Over the past
seven years, Alpha system prices
have plunged, while Alpha processor performance has increased
dramatically. We expect this trend
not only to continue, but to substantially accelerate.
By the end of this year, Alpha
EV68 microprocessors could run as
fast as 1GHz, and the next two
generations of Alpha technology
are expected to provide a minimum
fourfold boost in processor performance over the next several years.
No less important is the fact that
future Alpha CPU implementations
will incorporate hardware features
designed to minimize the cost of
Alpha uniprocessor and very large
SMP systems alike.
There is, of course, more to a computing platform than a fast microprocessor. System packaging and
interconnect technology are equal-

ly important. Compaq early this
year began rolling out a family of
switch-based AlphaServers that offer substantially greater performance and price-performance than
their predecessors. With the debut
of the AlphaServer DS10, DS20,
and ES40, Compaq completely
overhauled the entry through midrange AlphaServer lineup.
Anticipated to debut later this year
is a family of switch-based, modular
GS-series enterprise servers that
will deliver unparalleled levels of
performance and scalability to
high-end Alpha users. (According
to one Compaq executive, a 16node cluster of 64-CPU EV8-based
GS-series systems could offer as
much as one hundred million times
the performance of a VAX 11/725
uniprocessor!) More information
on the new Alpha SMP systems is
expected in the near term.
The latest generation of Compaq
AlphaServers have been well-received by the customer base and by
new customers as well. During
2FQ99, low end and midrange Alpha sales increased by more than
35 percent quarter-to-quarter, and
by more than 24 percent yearover-year. Alpha price-and-performance has increased even more
dramatically: at the high end, the
recently-announced Compaq AlphaServer GS60E starts at under
$100K for a dual-processor system
with 2GB of memory. This is less
than one-third the list price of the
original AlphaServer 8200.
Given the performance differential
between the 300MHz EV5 processor contained in the original 8200
and the 525MHz EV6 CPU used in
the GS60E, an entry GS60E reflects
a minimum sixfold price-and-performance improvement over the
initial enterprise-class offering.
The midrange AlphaServer ES40
costs ~20 percent less than its predecessor, and the AlphaServer
DS20 departmental system is an
continued on page 5

An Independent Publication not affiliated with Compaq Computer Corporation

October 1, 1999

continued from page 4

even better value. At the bottom of
the Alpha lineup, Linux-based
Compaq AlphaServer DS10 configurations start at about $3,500.
Since January 1998, entry Alpha
system prices have declined by
more than two-thirds, and forthcoming low-end AlphaServers
promise to further reduce the cost
of Alpha-based computing.
Recent pricing changes on OS and
layered software for midrange and
entry enterprise AlphaServers
render these systems an even better
value. With the introduction of the
AlphaServer GS60E, Compaq
slashed OS and layered software
prices by an average of 50 percent
for this system by moving them
from the enterprise to the departmental pricing tier. An OpenVMScluster license for a GS60 server listed for about $35K; the same
software goes for ~$17K on a new
GS60E system. The GS60E repricing initiative follows a similar price
reduction on AlphaServer ES40
system software.
Have It Your Way
The VAX customer base has been
subjected to overtures from vendors
who specialize in Unix, Windows,
or other proprietary OSes. In the
increasingly-heterogeneous OS
world, such options are worthy of
consideration. An overriding concern for most customers is a computing environment that offers
flexibility as well as scalability. And
in this regard, Alpha truly excels.
Alpha’s support for OpenVMS,
Tru64 UNIX and Linux ensures
that customers are not locked in to
a specific operating environment.
A decision to buy an Alpha/ OpenVMS system today does not preclude a customer from transitioning
to any of these popular OSes. By
contrast, a migration to a SPARCbased platform restricts the emigre
to Solaris, while a transition to PARISC limits the customer to the
HP-UX OS and applications suite.
Shannon knows Compaq

Similarly, a move to IBM’s PowerPC architecture locks the customer
into the AIX environment. Customers who opt to replace their
VAX systems with IA-32 solutions
not only face a non-trivial migration of their hardware, operating
system, and applications, they face
another near-term migration to the
IA-64 architecture when it begins
shipping sometime next year.
SKC believes the vast majority of
VAX customers will choose to remain on OpenVMS, and Compaq is
devoting substantial financial and
engineering resources to ongoing
OpenVMS enhancements. Nevertheless, support for alternative operating systems is equally important. When viewed in light of Unix
and Linux, the most popular alternatives to “proprietary” OSes, the
Alpha platform offers some compelling advantages.
New releases of Compaq’s Tru64
UNIX OS and TruCluster software
bring the firm’s 64-bit Unix and
clustering solutions into near-parity
with OpenVMS offerings. The
hard-partitioning capabilities of the
latest version of Tru64 UNIX not
only are compatible with current
Alpha enterprise servers, but will
fully exploit the next-generation
AlphaServer GS-series family that
will debut later this year. In addition, Tru64 UNIX has been 64-bit
compliant since its introduction,
and the operating system now
boasts a portfolio of more than
5,000 64-bit applications.
No less important are Compaq’s
engineering efforts in the Linux
space: Compaq has been actively
involved in Linux development for
over five years, and the firm continues to increase its support for
this popular 64-bit Unix alternative. Compaq recently became the
first vendor to support Linux on a
4-way SMP platform, and the
Compaq AlphaServer DS10 boasts
the industry’s best SPECint95 and
SPECfp95 performance on a Linux
uniprocessor system. Compaq al-

ready has ported several of its
Tru64 UNIX compilers and tools
to the Alpha/Linux environment;
additional ports are now underway.
The Road Ahead for OpenVMS
Some observers continue to question the long-term future of the
operating system, but Compaq continues to put its money where its
mouth is when it comes to OpenVMS. The firm’s OpenVMS Group
boasts a staff of over 550 developers, engineers, and marketing specialists supported by an annual investment of over $250M. The
OpenVMS business remains solidly
profitable, and OpenVMS-related
revenues actually posted a modest
year-over-year increase in FY98.
Moreover, OpenVMS continues to
attract new customers: in FY98
more than 15 percent of the OpenVMS business came from new accounts, including a full-scale deployment at the International
Securities Exchange.
Compaq early this year outlined a
5-year OpenVMS “rolling roadmap” that calls for new OS releases
every 12 to 18 months. Being a
mature and robust OS, OpenVMS
has very few chinks in its feature
and functionality armor: the OS already possesses the scalability,
availability, security, reliability, and
manageability attributes that remain long-term futures in Microsoft Windows NT and in the competitive UNIX OS realm. Accordingly, the OpenVMS enhancement
game plan focuses primarily on
Web-based features that support
Compaq’s NonStop eBusiness strategy, and on new mainframe-class
operating system capabilities.
While Compaq recently made a
business decision to decommit from
supporting future versions of Microsoft Windows on the Alpha
platform, OpenVMS and Windows
interoperability remains a high priority within the firm’s OpenVMS
Engineering group.
continued on page 6

An Independent Publication not affiliated with Compaq Computer Corporation

October 1, 1999

continued from page 5

Galactic Implications
Compaq’s approach to fortifying
OpenVMS with even greater levels
of scalability, availability, and reliability is exemplified by the Galaxy
Software Architecture. Formally
unveiled in conjunction with OpenVMS Version 7.2 last October, the
Galaxy Software Architecture on
OpenVMS allows multiple instances
of OpenVMS to execute cooperatively within a single computer.
The Galaxy architecture’s Adaptive
Partitioned Multiprocessing
(APMP) environment uniquely enables OpenVMS to deliver near-linear scaling even in very large SMP
systems. Galaxy technology will
permit OpenVMS to fully exploit
the capabilities of Compaq’s nextgeneration enterprise servers.
Moreover, because the Galaxy
design is not OpenVMS-specific, it
will enable closer affinity between
OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and
Linux. At the Spring 1999 DECUS
US Chapter Symposium in Providence, RI, Compaq demonstrated
Galaxy configurations that embraced Linux as well as OpenVMS.
These technology demonstrations
provide evidence that users will be
able to run OpenVMS and other
OSes on future Alpha servers,
thereby capitalizing on the
“bulletproof” attributes of OpenVMS as well as the benefits of alternative environments.
In late 1999, Galaxy Phase II will
introduce support for next-generation AlphaServers with up to 32
processors, thus allowing customers
to create as many as 8 OpenVMS
instances on a 32-CPU system.
Also planned for Phase II are CPU
hot-swapping, LAN over shared
memory, and RAMdisk support in
shared memory. In Y2K, Galaxy
Phase III will add support for EV7
processors, AlphaServer configurations with more than 32 CPUs,
DLM data in shared memory, and
self-healing tools. Galaxy Phase IV,
which will focus on continued perShannon knows Compaq

formance improvements, enhanced
system availability, and management tools, is already on the timetable for post-Y2K deployment.
How Do I Get There from Here?
Compaq offers a variety of migration programs and financial incentives to ease the burden of platform transition. Prospective VAX
emigres can use VAX to Alpha Migration Assessment services and
VAX to Alpha System and Application Migration Analysis and
Design services to develop a stepby-step plan for platform replacement. When it comes time to actually make the transition, VAX to
Alpha System and Application Migration services are available to
help customers rehost their OS and
apps on the Alpha platform.
To ease the financial impact of migration, Compaq offers VAX to Alpha trade-in programs as well as a
75 percent credit for old VAX software licenses. Periodically, the firm
offers additional trade-in incentives
on selected VAX systems. More information on these programs is
available at Compaq’s website or
from Compaq and channel partner
sales representatives.
Staying the Course
Those customers who opt to remain on the VAX platform can

count on Compaq to provide ongoing support for the next decade. In
fact, Compaq’s North America
Customer Services organization on
July 28 sent a letter to VAX users
confirming that Compaq Services
intends to continue supporting
VAX customers through the year
2010. As stated in the customer
letter, Compaq will “continue to
provide a full range of preventive,
performance optimization, and remedial services for VAX/OpenVMS
systems.” The firm additionally will
continue to provide service and
support to help customers protect
their VAX/ OpenVMS investments
and avoid disruption in their production environments.
Compaq will continue to develop
new releases of OpenVMS for the
VAX environment, but the main
focus of such releases will be on
mixed-architecture cluster support.
Most new OpenVMS capabilities—
such as enhanced Galaxy support
and improved Windows interoperability—will be delivered on Alpha
only. Accordingly, VAX customers
should carefully evaluate their ongoing requirements before deciding
whether to “stay or go.”
Based on price and performance,
applications availability, and system expandability, Shannon Knows
Compaq believes many VAX users
will find OpenVMS on Alpha is the
best path forward. n

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