HP Exemplar X-Class SPP2000 and HP-UX - possible?

[bgawert]

I have a question regarding the HP SPP2000 X-Class servers:

Convex built these systems running with a special version of HP-UX (SPP-UX). Later HP bought Convex and replaced the PA-8000 180MHz CPUs with PA-8200 200MHz CPUs (V2200). The V-Class can run HP-UX including 11i. So my question:

Is it possible to run HP-UX 11i on a SPP2000? What is necessary to do this? A firmware upgrade? Or does one really have to replace the CPU-Boards?

Benjamin

[Jeff Schussele]

Hi Benjamin,

Firmware for sure.
And I suspect that the CPU boards will need to be upgraded as well. HP-UX kernels are *very* sensitive to CPU type & it's highly likely that the kernel would have trouble dealing with a PA-8000 when it's expecting a PA-8200 in a "V2200". Besides, what kind of sys-type do you think that system will respond with upon query?
I bet you wouldn't even be able to apply the firmware *until* the "proper" CPU boards were installed.
Of course this is pure speculation - but tempered with a lot of experience.

Rgds,
Jeff

[bgawert]

Well, SPP-UX is basically HP-UX (10.01 when I remember right). I know that I can upgrade a SPP2000 to a V2200/2250, but I want to know if a X-Class (SPP2000) can also run HP-UX 11.x without being upgraded to V-Class. I heard from different sources that HP offered a firmware upgrade to allow the SPP2000 to run plain HP-UX.

If it really isn't possible to run HP-UX on a X-Class I would like to know what exactly has to be replaced besides the CPU. Do I need new memory boards and RAM modules? Do I even need a new Midplane? What about the PSUs?

Benjamin

[Jeff Schussele]

Hi (again) Benjamin,

Well I'll have to defer to an HP expert as my experience with Vs is limited to the 2500/2600 lines. So I don't have any stick time on the lower models.
Hopefully an HP person will chime in.

Rgds,
Jeff

[tech1214]

SPP-UX may have sorta, kinda looked like HP-UX from the "outside" but on the inside it was a whole different beast - essentially a heavily moddified (aka lots of bugs fixed,and plenty of new ones added) version of Mach.

To partially answer your question - yes it is possible to run HP-UX on an S-Class, and maybe even on an X-class (multi-node s-class) - I've seen it in the lab, and I was told that the changes to HP-UX to get it to boot on the S were relatively minor. But, that was a lab environment, and not anything even vaguely resembling a supported configuration.

I have not heard of a purchaseable upgrade to an s-class to run HP-UX. My experience has been that HP will sell you a v-class and take your old hardware in trade. I don't know if that is still an option, I don't think V's are even on the price-list anymore. Either-way, that is not a definitive NO, just a, "I've never heard of it."

At the very least, your scsi controllers would have to go - the Q-logic cards that shipped in the s-class were not supported by HP-UX, for that you need NCR/LSI/Symbios based controllers.