OpenVMS commercial license cost

[TC11]

I'm looking for an estimate on what a commercial license for OpenVMS would cost. I've asked 3 different departments at HP and I keep getting the runaround, so I'm hoping someone can throw out a quick ballpark figure for what a 1 system, 1 person license might run.

[Robert Brooks_1]

What hardware?

You might have better luck talking to a VAR.

-- Rob (who works for HP and is torturously aware of how difficult it can be to do business with us)

[John Gillings]

Ah yes, the old "cheque book slap" inherited from digital. Picture a customer screaming "TAKE MY MONEY" with the digital salesperson dithering around trying to figure out how.

It's difficult to give a ballpark figure, as "1 system" could be anything from a single, small box for a few thousand dollars to a multi site mega system costing as much money as you can think of.

You need to find an authorised reseller who can spell "VMS". Maybe if you posted your location to a finer granularity then "usa" someone here might be able to suggest a local reseller.

[TC11]

It would be used with a VAX emulator. I think "a few thousand dollars" will be all the higher-ups need to hear to consider my alternative solution. Thanks.

[Andy Bustamante]

"It depends."

If you have an existing VMS system, licenses can be transferred instead of purchased from scratch. Since this is for a virtual VMS system, check with one of the virtual resellers. One will probably be along shortly, or use Google.

[Brad McCusker]

>It would be used with a VAX emulator.

Do you have a VAX that you can transfer a license from? That would be $1000 for a transfer license. And another $1000 if you are planning to run any layered products.

See http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/sri-charon-vax-emulator.html

Doesn't matter if it's a Stromasys emulator, open source or from some other company, HP doesn't care, the transfer licenses work just the same.

If you really need to buy a new license, I 2nd the suggestion to talk to a reseller.

Brad McCusker
Software Concepts International
www.sciinc.com

[Cass Witkowski]

Have you tried sending an email to OpenVMS.programs@hp.com to let them know of your difficulty of trying to spend money on OpenVMS?

[TC11]

The VAX systems we had got sold long ago, so this would need to be a new license.

[Steve Reece_3]

To give some ballpark figures, we'd need to know what you plan on running OpenVMS on.
A blade server, for example, is relatively cheap (relatively is an important word here!) and includes the unlimited user license. If, on the other hand, it's an AlphaServer or Alpha emulator you'll need a base license, plus a user license, plus networking licenses and possibly a Motif license if you want a Motif interface.
VAX licensing follows a similar pattern to AlphaServer licensing.
A few years ago here in the UK, I did an exercise of relicensing a DS20. Taking off the unlimited user license it came to about £10k. This would have included:
DECnet
DW-Motif
OpenVMS base license
OpenVMS SMP license (it was a 2 CPU box)
TCP/IP

If you were running a big AlphaServer 8400/GS140 then you could easily more than double those figures.

Steve

[Kelly Stewart_1]

Consider buying a used VAX with licenses from an HP licensed broker. A small licensed VAX could cost (considerably) less than a commercial-grade emulator, and the OpenVMS base license (and any layered products already installed) will transfer for a relatively small fee - $400 the last time I dealt with it. And the HP license transfer department is no slower than the HP new license department. But you must buy direct from the HP registered owner or from a licensed broker to do the software transfer, and file the appropriate forms with HP.

If you buy new software, remember you must order or borrow the media separately.