hp-ux 64 vs 32 bit mode.

[joe_91]

Team:

Greetings!! We have n-class servers running 11.0 64 bit mode. The architecture is such that all users come from PC (thru xemulator) as these users come from xmotif applications (running in 32 bit mode.) we have a new xmotif application coming in about 2 months and they are starting their test phase (their code is in 10.20 32 bit mode) since they are going to migrate to 11.0 running 64 bit OS, should they get a server(a user one for testing) which should run 64 bit OS? or will 32 bit os should be OK?.
My recommendation would be to get a machine capable of running 64 bit OS and then test the 32 bit appln. there. The reason is 'coz the production is running 64 bit os and i wanted the test environment to be the same way just to bridge the "unknown differences" that may creep up.

Please advise whether this assumption makes sense and the reasons?

Thanks

Joe.

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Joe:

Appplications written and compiled for 10.20 should be able to run fine in 64-bit environments.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Pete Randall]

Joe,

If you have that luxury of acquiring a machine for this test, then obviously it would be the most thorough way to test.

That said, I don't think you're going to discover any problems running 32 bit apps on a 64 bit machine. I've got 10.20 code that ran unchanged on 11.0 32 bit, 11.0 64 bit and now, 11i 64 bit.

Pete

[Chris Wilshaw]

Our current servers are using the 64 bit kernel, but running a couple of old apps which are built on 32 bits (one of which is a 10.20 app). We've had no problems with any of the apps that we have been able to attribute to this.

Ideally, you'd want to test the app on both 32 and 64 bit installations.

To find out what versions are supported for any particular model of server, you can check /etc/.supported_bits on any 11.* system.

[Stefan Farrelly]

There can be a significant performance hit from running 32bit apps on a 64bit OS. Already some HP customers have found that it can be 5-10% degradation or on ocassion even more, so be weary of this when testing. You may well find the performance unacceptable and instead opt for 32bit HP-UX11 instead of 64bit.

[BFA6]

Hi,

We've got apps written for 10.20 running on 64 bit 11, with no problems.

Most new servers will only run the 64 bit version of the OS anyway.

Regards,

Hilary

[Jose Mosquera]

Hi,

Pls also consider commercial deadlines like:

In March 31th, 2004 HP will remove 11.0 from Corporate Price List.
In December 31th 2006 HP won't offer you any support on 11.0

Rgds.

[Pete Randall]

Jose,

Where are you getting that discontinuance info for 11.0? Can you point to a URL that says that?

Pete

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

HI Joe,

10.20 will work fine on 11.x 64bit.

However, if it is production, I would not assume anything. Yes. Test your application with full load and with all the test cases. Go into production only after ever case is proven.

-Sri

[Pete Randall]

Never mind Jose, I found it. I've seen the question asked several times but had never seen an "official" date before. Here it is:

http://www.software.hp.com/RELEASES-MEDIA/history/slide2.html


Pete

[Jose Mosquera]

Hi Pete,

In the last HP pamphlet emission (Dec 2002) page 18.

Rgds.

[Cyril Kwok_2]

FYI, if
1. you are using NIS+ on 11.x
2. your programs involving system calls in pwd.h (e.g. getpwent)
3. your programs are compiled on 10.20

All those passwd related system calls can only get the information from /etc/passwd, /etc/group and etc but not from the NIS+ server.

I got a formal reply that in order to support NIS+, these programs have to be compiled on 11.x

Regards,

Cyril

[Cyril Kwok_2]

FYI, if
1. you are using NIS+ on 11.x
2. your programs involving system calls in pwd.h (e.g. getpwent)
3. your programs are compiled on 10.20

All those passwd related system calls can only get the information from /etc/passwd, /etc/group and etc but not from the NIS+ server.

I got a formal reply from HP that in order to support NIS+, these programs have to be compiled on 11.x

Regards,

Cyril

[Steven E. Protter]

The HP world is going 64 bit.
The new hardware only runs 64 bit OS.

We have such hardware in and are running Internet Application Server from Oracle which is a 32 bit application. It runs fine. But the real answer is it varies from applicatoin vendor to application vendor.

You need to see what they certify.

SEP

[Ajit Natarajan]

An application that has been compiled in 10.20 should generally run fine in a 11.0 64 bit environment.

If you are planning to recompile the application in a 64 bit 11.0 environment, please note that HP's C compiler will build for the architecture it is run on. An application built in a 64 bit environment will not run in a 32 bit environment. The compiler/linker will warn if it detects that it is producing something that will only run in a 64 bit environment.

To compile an application in a 64 bit machine running a 64 bit version of HP-UX such that it will run on a 32 bit machine, you will need to supply the +DA1.1 +DS2.0 compiler options. Check the man page for details. (This applies to the HP C compiler. Other compilers may vary.)

Ajit
HP Gigabit Ethernet