HP-UX 11i v3 focuses on virtualization

Of all the major commercial versions of Unix, HP-UX is the one that I’ve spent the least time with. Other than exploring it on a couple of PA-RISC boxes, and then on an HP Integrity Itanium 2-based server, I have little feel for the unique characteristics and features of this venerable operating system, compared to, say, Solaris, AIX or UnixWare.

However, I was please to see last week that HP continues to invest in HP-UX 11i, and still supports both the PA-RISC and Itanium 2 processors. In conversations with PA-RISC users, they’re fanatical in their devotion to that chip, and singularly unenthusiastic about migrating to the Itanium processor. (However, change is inevitable. HP has stated that the current shipping version of the processor, the PA-8900, will be the last, so migration is inevitable.)

What’s new in HP-UX 11i v3? According to HP, the focus of this release has been on performance tuning (with claimed improvements of up to 30 percent) and on better support of virtualization:

HP-UX 11i v3 delivers enhancements in virtualization and performance that prepare customers for today’s and tomorrow’s most demanding workloads and data explosion.

HP-UX 11i v3 expands its mission-critical virtualization leadership with:

* OS performance accelerated through kernel optimization, an increase of 30% on average compared to version 2 running on the same hardware;

* Scalability expanded to almost unlimited storage capacity while simplifying storage management;

* Availability and manageability increased through hot swap for hardware components and self-healing I/O.

* Flexible capacity enhanced, with uncompromising uptime, with the ability to dynamically move memory among vPars. (vPars is available on mid-range and high-end servers).

I welcome your comments regarding HP-UX 11i, the PA-RISC 8900 processor, and the HP 9000 (PA RISC) and HP Integrity (Itanium 2) server families.