replacing the K460

[Linda Lux]

I have been given the daunting task of replacing the K460. Since I have never done this, I don't know where to begin. Is there an HP site to plug in all of the hardware and software we have and have them do a quote? We have several 3rd party software involved, and how about the network side of it.

[Jesse Dougherty]

if you need to replace the K460 with a duplicate system, you should be able to find them all over ebay or do a google search. If you are replacing the K460 with a newer server you are probably going to need some more information as to what you need because there about 100 different servers and options that are newer than the K460 in the HP 9000 HP-UX arena.

jesse

[Jean-Luc Oudart]

Well,
I suppose you want something newer but still support your existing applications.
To check the available servers (HP9000) you can start here :
http://www.hp.com/products1/servers/HP9000_family_overview.html

Now,
it's also about capacity planning (don't forget the storage), supported OS and applications .. and $$

For a quote contact your favourite HP rep.

Regards,
Jean-Luc

[Dave Unverhau_1]

Linda,

To answer your question in a word -- no.

There is no single HP tool (that I'm aware of -- and I'm pretty sure of this) that will allow you to plug in your requirements and recommend specific solutions.

A number of very knowledgeable people on this forum can probably make some great suggestions, but more info would be needed, such as your current o/s version and the apps you want to run (if you're running 10.20 or 11.0 now, those 3rd-party apps might not even have been ported to 11i).

As Jean-Luc suggested, you would be well-served by working with an HP sales rep or partner on this.

Best Regards,

Dave

[Shaikh Imran]

Hi,
Replacing a particular system :
According to me the replacement of a particular server involves a hell lot of time,documentation & problems.
Prior to the actions i will go for
The proper documentation of my existing hardware,O.S. related & application related parameters.
1) What is the hardware i am going to procure==> definately RISC Based.
2) Whether that hardware is 32-bit or 64 bit ==> even if my hardware is 32 bit i will opt for 64 bit as this is the future.
3) O.S. 32 bit or 64 bit ==> As per the existing but i will go for 64 bit if existing is 32.
4) My application
I will divide my applications as
a) 32 bit support OR
b) 64 bit support
If my applications are 32 bit now and i am going for 64 bit O.S. then
i will first read the porting guide from the application vendor websites.
Say my application is 32 bit and i m ready with the 64 bit O.S. and porting guide.

Say i got a server with the O.S. installed (64 bit )
then my all 64 bit apps will work fine but i need to port the 32 bit apps to thi server.

As far as K460 is considered you can go to L-class ( L-2000) server with HPUX 11.0 O.S.
And also co-ordinate with the repective application vendors for the bit support.
Also take the proper backup of the system if possible take 2 copies.

Regards,

[Dave Wherry]

Linda,
There used to be a system comparison tool on the HP web site but, it is gone. As suggested your best bet, since you admit you do not know where to begin, is to work with HP or an HP Partner.

There are many things to consider in replacing this server.
Why are you replacing it? Have you outgrown it? Is performance bad or do you need more expandability?
Many times it makes sense because the support costs on the older systems is much higher than newer systems.

You will need to validate that those 3rd party applications will run on the latest version of HP-UX which will come with a new server. Or, if not, you may need to look at a "newer" (L-class as was suggested) used system. There again you have the issue of support costs on a discontinued system.

What about growth? You do not want to migrate to a new system only to outgrow it too soon. If your K460 has 4 processors there are several systems available now that will give comparable performance with 1 processor. At the least you would want to look at the rp2470 or rx2600. Each of those with a single processor have a higher TPM mark than the 4 way K460, and, they can each go to 2 processors if you need it in the future.

The rx2600 brings into play another question. Are you ready to look at moving to Itanium? If you go with another PA-RISC system now, which likely would be fine, you may need to look at another migration to Itanium down the road.

Like I said there are many things to consider and like Jean-Luc suggested, you should work with HP or a Partner.

[kenny chia]

Hi Linda
I have been given the more daunting task of replacing many K460s and D210s. The purpose of my replacement task is due to lack of hardware spare parts, not performance issue

You can go to the HP Enterprise Configurator and configure a sample server

http://h30099.www3.hp.com/configurator/catalog-hp9000.asp

This website is good for
1. Obtaining a rough budget
2. Making sure that there are no missing items

[Brian M Rawlings]

Linda: I suggest that you get an HP reseller involved. If it is a very big deal, HP might be interested in helping you, but for single-server deals, they will probably refer you to a local reseller.

This is not a bad thing, since a reseller can help you with all aspects of your upgrade, not just the one server. I help people do this all the time, for K-class and D-class units (and lately, for those old N-class servers).

There are indeed lots of questions and dependencies, like, are you running 10.20 or 11.x? Do you have any apps that are not qualified for 11i/11.11? You do need to get somebody involved to help you through some of this.

I am attaching a spreadsheet that I have put together over the years, to help with sizing the replacement system. It is not perfect, but it will give you a good idea of the relative performance from older stuff to newer stuff. Even though it doesn't have all the latest servers in it, I hope you will find it useful. I need to get it up to date (in my spare time, of course).

Regards, --bmr

[Victor Fridyev]

Hi

Try to use this link
http://h30099.www3.hp.com/configurator/
Here you can build the computer which you need.
AFAIK, HP now tries to sale rp34xx computers instead of old boxes. They are much faster and cheaper than KXXX servers. The only one problem with them is that they can't work with HPUX11.00.
If your old machines worked with HPUX11i or upgrade to this version is not a big issue, go to them (IMHO).

HTH