No. 41 — Update of Volume 4, Issue 11

Welcome to our 41st monthly edition of Online Extra — the e-mail update of our articles in recent issues of the 3000 NewsWire, plus items that have surfaced since we mailed our previous First Class issue (July). We e-mail subscribers this file between the First Class issues you receive by mail, updating the stories you've read and adding articles that have developed between issues.

Call us at 512-657-3264 or send e-mail if you have any questions about receiving the Online Extra by e-mail. If you don't want us to e-mail you this file in the future — because you prefer to read the Online Extra at the Always Online Web site — just drop me a line at rseybold@zilker.net.

Ron Seybold
Editor In Chief

IN THIS MONTH'S EXTRA

Oracle readies a 6.0- and Y2K-compatible release
Avoiding crashes while using the new Job Queues in 6.0
Open Skies partners with a travel network
You can get certifiable on MPE, but practice with caution
EMC's DG purchase means RAID for LDEV1 now comes from a competitor

Oracle readies a 6.0- and Y2K-compatible release

Customers report Oracle has given them notice of a 7.3.4.4 version of the database coming sometime September for sites running MPE/iX 6.0. (Since the Express 1 version of 6.0 will be out by then, we can only assume the latest version of Oracle will operate with the latest MPE/iX 6.0 release.)

Assumptions on the part of Oracle releases can be a risky thing, however, according to some other customer reports. One intrepid HP 3000 manager reported some time ago that Oracle appeared to "de-certify" the 7.1.x releases of the database for Year 2000 compliance. Greg Stigers downloaded the Oracle Y2K white paper, then discovered four months later some releases were no longer mentioned regarding Y2K compliance:

"We had downloaded this PDF white paper V4.1.0.0.15 dated November 2, 1998 on March 16th. This document listed Oracle7 Enterprise Edition 7.1.X and [later] as FULLY COMPLIANT. However, this site now has V4.1.0.0.16 dated March 12, 1999, the current document now lists Oracle7 Enterprise Edition 7.3.4 and [later], and no longer has a 'Compliance' column."

Vince Martyn, who supports HP 3000 customers using Oracle and stresses he's in no way an official spokesman for the company, said, "Anyone who reads the white paper properly can see the comments regarding de supported software, and not to run it — because Year 2000 is not an exception to the fact that it is de-supported. The earlier Year 2000 white paper did say that, so far as is known, Oracle 7.1 server and upwards are Year 2000 compliant. BUT even Year 2000 is NOT an exception to the status of de-supported releases."

We think that means the only safe way to run Oracle for Y2K compliance is to run the very latest version, or only those releases which still qualify for support. If you're not sure your version of Oracle is supported for your version of MPE/iX, you can call Vince and the hardworking people at Oracle support.

In the meantime, for customers working with MPE/iX 5.5, that latest version of Oracle (7.3.4.4) is already available. And the last word on Y2K compliance for the database with so many releases is at http://www.oracle.com/year2000.

Avoiding crashes while using the new Job Queues in 6.0

One of the significant advances in functionality for MPE/iX 6.0 was User Job Queues, but there are ways to cause a system abort when you use them carelessly. Shawn Gordon reported in February:

"If you try to stream a job into a queue that does not exist you will receive the message

JOBQ parameter expected. (CIERR 12255)
Spooler internal error occurred. (CIERR 4522)

The job will be streamed regardless — however, it won't start executing, because there is no queue for it to execute in. At this point you can’t abort it, you can't create the queue it was intended for and have it work, you can’t alter it into the system job queue. Finally you can try to create a new queue and alter it into it. The LISTJOBQ will show it as a job for that queue, but it will never start executing. The only way to get rid of the job is to shut down the system and do a START NORECOVERY. I would deem this a major bug."

After some head-scratching and more engineering from the HP 3000 experts in Bangalore, HP appears to have provided a fix in a patch, MPEKXP4. We're not sure yet if the patch is included in the new Express 1 release coming out in a few weeks. But the patch was generally available in mid-July, so it may have made the cut-off date. If not, you can ask for it by name from the HP Electronic Response Center.

Open Skies partners with a travel network

The HP Open Skies operation, purchased by the HP 3000 division last fall, signed on a new partner to extend its offerings powered by HP 3000 systems in the Travel & Entertainment Network Online. The alliance gives the reach of the TEN Online network to the solutions that HP is offering to airlines through Open Skies. TEN Online serves hotels and travel organizations with Internet-based reservation services, but until this deal, didn't have an online airline reservation component. Its clients include clients include Loews Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Woodside Travel Trust, Institute for Certified Travel Agents, the International Federation of Women's Travel Organizations and Cruise Lines International Association

Open Skies Operation gives TEN Online access to airline inventory (seats on flights), using the HP 3000-powered OpenRes and Take Flight reservations systems. Open Skies is providing IT datacenter services to distribute the inventory (hotel rooms, cruises and car rentals) of its travel and hospitality suppliers.

We think it's worth noting that the HP 3000 itself seems to have disappeared from the message HP is sending about Open Skies, which for awhile was part of the 3000 division. HP believes the market for its airline reservation solution doesn't care which computer is delivering the goods.

The former marketing manager of the 3000 division, now marketing for Open Skies, said the benefits of online reservations are going to flow to a new part of the travel industry. A reservation partner in either the Open Skies or TEN network will be able to offer inventory from either network.

"Our alliance with TEN Online allows us to expand the services we offer our airline customers — services that enable them to bring low-cost air travel to a broader group of consumers worldwide," said Roy Breslawski. "In the airline industry, it's all about choice, and this is an innovative new choice for airline distribution."

It's a good thing the HP 3000 solution will be getting a partner, because it's set to get some competition from IBM. Big Blue said it will develop a universal electronic-ticketing platform with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a Geneva-based global airline trade group. IATA represents 266 airlines world-wide and wants to expand the use of e tickets.

IBM got invited to bid on a system for Southwest Airlines last summer, which still uses HP 3000s for two thirds of its tickets but slowed release of New Res, a more expansive system that goes beyond ticketless. IBM wants to provide a network through which hundreds of airlines worldwide can launch e-ticketing services or communicate with one another to coordinate e ticketing changes. IBM promised the platform would be up and running by the middle of next year. An IATA official couldn't immediately be reached for comment, but the group, which represents 266 airlines world-wide, has said it plans to expand the use of e-tickets.

You can get certifiable on MPE, but practice with caution

HP is now offering an MPE/iX Certification certificate for MPE/iX, working through the Sylvan Prometrics testing firm to give you HP 3000 credentials. One part of the process includes a practice test you can take on the Web, and some early critique of the test from 3000 experts found some flaws. The two-section practice test at http://education.hp. com/hpcert-mpetest.htm had two wrong answers, according to Allegro Consultants' Stan Sieler, and six answers that he either considered poor, obscure or had more than one correct choice.

There's a fair amount of flak coming from longtime MPE users about the true worth of certification on an operating system as legendary and stable as MPE/iX. Many an MPE veteran can see little value in getting a certificate to prove competence in something they've practiced with professional success for decades. (And yes, the 3000 is old enough to have that much success). But once certification appears in a market, those who have it can claim to be better than those who don't — regardless of how you feel about being able to get 20 answers correct about an operating system that's 26 years deep.

The first tests in the market will get taken at HP World this week, so the testing company and HP will have plenty more field experience in a few days time. If you want to schedule a test at a Sylvan Center, call 888.895.6162 or register on the Sylvan site.

RAID devices for LDEV1 now in the hands of a competitor

EMC's DG purchase means RAID for LDEV1 now comes from a competitor

When EMC purchased Data General earlier this week, it put HP's preferred HP 3000 RAID storage vendor squarely in the hands of company now competing with HP. The Model 10 and Model 20 systems sold by HP for the 3000 are re-labelled Clariion storage devices, and Clariion was a DG product line that's disappearing inside EMC. Both can be used as boot devices on the HP 3000s. The Model 20, with the SP620 processor, can have dual boot paths, a new feature known as HAFO (High Availability Failover) available in MPE/iX 6.0.

EMC said this week it will operate Data General's server business as a separate business unit, but it will incorporate DG's Clariion storage products into existing EMC product lines.

Early reports from the field show HP has lost its taste for pushing EMC, now preferring to sell its own new XP 256 devices instead of the high end Symmetrix units that EMC made. Customers are noting that these XP 256s don't support the faster connectivity options on the 3000s — just F/W SCSI, where the EMC units will be able to use FiberChannel when HP delivers it for the 3000.

It's not clear at the moment what HP might do to replace the midrange Model 10 and Model 20 units — especially if it plans to follow its "buy our own HP brand" storage strategy. There are used Model 10 and Model 20 units on the market now, and of course, EMC would be glad to sell you a new one, too. We would guess that with the highly competitive nature of the new relationship between EMC and HP, long-term 3000 support for a Model 10 or 20 would be something you'd want to get in writing.

It's all something to consider if you want a RAID array on your 3000 as a boot device — or are just shopping for midrange RAID 3000 devices for a healthcare firm, for example. We hope to get an update on midrange RAID options from HP at the HP World conference. Stay tuned.