FlashPaper Dec. 2001: HP's dropping its Allbase business, too

December 2001

HP’s dropping its Allbase business, too

Sites using HP databases other than IMAGE/SQL will be on the move along with some of the HP 3000 installed base, even if those sites are using the HP 9000 servers. That’s because the root of the HP Allbase business has been in the HP 3000 division for years, even if development has slowed along with sales of that database, HP posted notice on its Web site that Allbase has the same end of sales and end of support dates as the HP e3000, with sales ceasing on Oct. 31, 2003 and support for the database ending on Dec. 31, 2006. The Allbase community running with HP 3000s is a small fraction of the size of the installed base using IMAGE/SQL on HP 3000s, but enhancements requested by Allbase users sometimes resulted in improvements to the ODBC middleware for the HP 3000. Now customers who need to migrate their HP 3000s or their databases are considering a pair of alternatives to IMAGE at the same time, since IMAGE/SQL isn’t supported in any environment but MPE/iX.

Databases getting the biggest consideration from application providers and customers leaving the 3000 include HP Eloquence, available for Unix platforms and Linux (www.hp-eloquence.com), and PostgreSQL, a free Open Source database running on Linux.While PostgreSQL has an Open Source MPE/iX port available from www.bixby.org/mark/postgresqlix.html, Eloquence is strictly a product of HP Germany running on Intel-based systems and HP’s 9000 hardware. Developed by Marxmeier Software AG for HP as a complete development environment for discontinued HP 250 systems, it has a version of BASIC for development and a database engine. TransforMix Computer Corp., a distributor of Eloquence, used the database as part of a team project to re-host 4 million lines of MPE-based Fortran and C/iX code to HP-UX.

“It is very TurboIMAGE compatible,” TransforMix’s Charles Finley said in an Internet posting. “Although it was originally intended to provide a soft landing for users of the discontinued HP 250 and 260 users by allowing them to run their applications without modification on HP-UX, it has taken on a new life. Most HP 250/260 users used products that were supported by “solutions” ISV's. The ISV's initial focus was to migrate these customers to HP-UX and it was very successful in that role.” When HP commissioned Marxmeier to port the software to Intel systems, the work opened the door to Linux installations as well as Windows, Finley added. “Most of the sales of Eloquence are on Linux through the same ISVs who formerly sold it on HP-UX,” he said. “With the introduction of HP Eloquence for Linux, some of these companies are growing rapidly.” The database costs between $1,000 and $10,000 to license — far more than PostgreSQL, or the TurboIMAGE that has been bundled with the 3000s, but less than Oracle or SQL Server.