Endgame for Tru64

Computerworld - When Todd Achenson, Internet systems manager at Ohio University, spent more than $300,000 on two high-end Alpha servers in December, he also got something else: more time for his Tru64 Unix environment.

Like all Tru64 users, Achenson is facing a deadline. Hewlett-Packard Co. is discontinuing the Tru64 operating system and the Alpha server hardware it runs on. The double blow means that users must move applications to new operating systems and hardware platforms. But users who say Tru64's reliability, clustering and file management capabilities are second to none believe that they'll be trading down no matter what migration path they take.

HP will stop releasing new versions of Tru64 in December 2006 but continue support through at least 2011. The company released its final chip upgrade for Alpha servers last year but will continue to sell the servers through 2006.

Exploring Options

Many users are still deciding on a migration path, according to some consultants and vendors who work with Tru64 customers.

"We're just biding our time and looking at options," says Achenson, who has not decided on a migration path for critical network services managed by his 30 Alpha servers. He believes the two new servers will give the 25,000-student university in Athens, Ohio, up to two years of breathing room.

"I think the market is still grappling with it," says Vic Ahmed, CEO of Parsec Group Inc., a Denver-based consulting and training firm that is encouraging users to migrate to OpenVMS, which also has strong clustering capabilities. OpenVMS runs on Alpha, but HP recently ported it to Itanium. "There is still a pretty robust customer base on Tru64, and they are fairly happy with it," Ahmed says.

But some users weren't happy with HP's decision. "It's just a very big disappointment," says Nikola Milutinovic, Unix systems administrator at EPS JP Elektrovojvodina in Novi Sad, Serbia. The power company has decided on a Linux and Windows path for its Tru64 applications.

Achenson had been considering HP-UX, HP's recommended migration path, but reconsidered when HP announced in December that it was dropping plans to move Tru64 clustering and file management technology to HP-UX.

"That's been a big loss for us," says Achenson. "The Tru64 customers have been left high and dry."

Instead, HP announced an agreement with Veritas Software Corp. to integrate similar clustering technology in HP-UX, says Mary Ellen Lewandowski, a senior product manager for Tru64. She sees the changes as an improvement in the Tru64 road map, not a setback.

For instance, the decision improves the clustering technology, allowing management of multiple clusters, which Tru64 doesn't have, says Lewandowski. "Our commitment to our customers is to make sure they have the best road map there is," she says.
Tru64 traces its origins to 1988 and was owned for most of its life by Digital Equipment Corp. Digital was later acquired by Compaq Computer Corp., which merged with HP in 2002. HP quickly decided to retire Tru64. "You need to have one Unix that you are focused on, and HP-UX is a rock-solid Unix," says Lewandowski.
However HP justified the demise of Tru64, it was still difficult news for many users, such as the IT staff at BECU, formerly known as the Boeing Employees Credit Union. The Seattle-based firm is one of the largest credit unions in the U.S., with some $5 billion in assets and nearly 400,000 members.