interested in server consolidation...

[Manuel Contreras]

due to support costs, we are looking for a solution to consolidate the following boxes:

11.11 rp8420 DBserver
11.11 n4000 FORMSserver
11.11 l2000 REPORTSserver
11.00 l2000 MiddleTier

I know an 11.00 lpar is not an option...

interested in a consolidated env., on newer equipment.

thanks,
manuel

[Mel Burslan]

Without knowng the applications running on these systems and their compatibility with later versions of HPUX (11.23 and later) as well as their hardware compatibility with integrity series of servers (a.k.a. Itanium) it is very hard to suggest a consolidation path.

First thing I'd suggest is to investigate if you can run your apps on V 11.23 or V 11.31. If the answer is yes, then investigate if any of them are dependent on PA-RISC hardware architecture. If they are not and can run on Itanium servers, then you have a better path for upgrade.

If you are dependent on PA-RISC architecture or HPUX V 11.11, your upgade choices are very limited.

Good luck

[Manuel Contreras]

upgrade is probably not an option, as these servers represent our new legacy oracle financials env.

if we remove the 11.0 box from the equation, would running the remaining three on a newer pa-risc box make the most sense?

[Mel Burslan]

do you have the machine specifics for the rp8420, n4000 and L2000's ? As in # of CPUs, amount of memory and such ?

[Manuel Contreras]

11.11 boxes
rp8400 36gb / 24x 1ghz procs
N4000 12gb / 8x 550mhz procs
L4000 10gb / 4x 500mhz procs

11.0 box
L4000 8gb / 4x 500mhz procs

[Tim Nelson]

My 2 cents...

Unless these servers are way underutilized then the size of the new server would require a superdome and probably cost a fortune.

Are you trying to save foot print or $$ ?

I bet the cost of the 3 smaller servers including maint. does not even come close to the cost of a superdome.

As stated it depends on the application requirements and utilization. if your 8420 is way underutilized and has enough resource ( maybe add some RAM ) you could use it in an npar or vpar environment and run all three apps on one box (or some mix ).

The hpux 11.0 as mentioned is out of the question as no npar or vpar supports 11.0 only 11.11 and forward.

[Mel Burslan]

Exactly what Tim said.

Your servers are not by any means weak servers. Replacement and consolidation of all of them is not a feat that anything less than a superdome can handle. And believe me, you don't want to mention the cost of support for a superdome to your management. My suggestion would be to get rid of N-Class and replace it with rp4400 and if the middle tier s/w is able to run on 11.11, consolidate the two into another rp4400 and be done with it. Otherwise, you are stuck with at least one L-class machine. Other can be replaced by a rp3440 or better with another rp4400 for the expansion capabilities.

Good luck

[Manuel Contreras]

support costs are the BIG motivator.
The amount is very surprising, especially when you compare it to something like an rx8640 (new env).

With regard to the amount of utilisation,
This env. will be accessed occasionally, less and less with each passing quarter...

estimated OLTP info:
rp8420 has an estimated OLTP of 290K
rp4440 has an estimated OLTP of 175K

I guess a pair of peppy rp4440's would not be a good compromise?

thanks for the input, it is appreciated.

[Patrick Wallek]

How about an alternative?

What about:

1) Reducing the level of support. If you have 24x7 4 hour response, try next business day.

2) Look into a 3rd party maintenance provider. We have recently switched from HP and saved a significant amount of $$$$.

[Manuel Contreras]

found a typo in my previous post.
estimated OLTP for the rp8420 is more like 400K.

3rd party as well as 2nd day support are definitely support options we will peruse...

thanks,
manuel