migration strategies, pitfalls, and possibilities - gtug€¢ support of hpvm v4.3 guests for...

© Copyright 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

Migration Strategies, Pitfalls, and Possibilities Connect /GTUG IT-Symposium April 2014

Ray Turner OpenVMS Ambassador

Senior Technology Consultant

Brett Cameron OpenVMS Ambassador

Senior Architect


AGENDA • OpenVMS press release, 10-Jun-2013

• Migrating applications off OpenVMS

• Summary/conclusion

• Questions

© Copyright 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. 3

10th June 2013

OpenVMS press release

HP Extends Support for OpenVMS through Year 2020 http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/press-release.html?id=1424702#.Ubjdz5xiBP5

• PALO ALTO, Calif. -- HP today announced it will extend engineering support for HP Integrity i2 servers, and offer software updates and support for customers with OpenVMS operating systems through at least the end of 2020. The company will continue to provide regular software updates and support for OpenVMS 8.4 to ensure its thousands of OpenVMS customers can confidently run their environments for the next seven years with updates and support from HP, with consideration for an extension. HP also will extend sales of HP Integrity i2 servers based on the Intel® Itanium® processor 9300 series through 2015. These servers offer OpenVMS customers significant gains in performance and resiliency over prior generations. Sales of HP Integrity i2 server upgrades for OpenVMS customers will be extended through 2016. HP also will provide engineering support for these servers through 2020. HP will not support OpenVMS on its HP Integrity i4 servers based on Intel Itanium processor 9500 series, commonly known as “Poulson.”

• HP will continue to make innovations to our HP Integrity and HP Proliant portfolios as well as our HP Nonstop, HP-UX and OpenVMS operating environments with mission-critical Converged Infrastructure—all part of our commitment to transform the server landscape while ensuring investment protection for our customers now and into the future.”

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/press-release.html?id=1424702








• MPS w/o SE would be available for at least 2 years. • A 24-month notification will be provided before support is ended • For details on the PVS and PS offer, click here

2014 2012 2018 2016 2010

VAX All Versions

V7.3-2

V8.2

Integrity

V8.2-1

V8.3

V8.3

V8.3-1H1

2020

V8.4

V8.4

Standard Support

PVS with SE

MPS without SE

V6.2 & V6.2-1Hx

Alpha

PVS with SE/ SS

2015 2013 2019 2017 2011 2021

PVS without SE PVS with SE until April 2014

Standard Support

Standard Support through December 2020

Standard Support

Standard Support

EES available until April 2014

EES Extended Engineering Support

MPS Mature Product Support PVS Prior Version Support SE Sustaining Engineering SS Standard Support

EES available until April 2014 SS

SS

HP OpenVMS Service Support Roadmap

MPS w/o SE

MPS w/o SE

MPS w/o SE

MPS w/o SE

PVS w/o SE

PVS w/o SE

2022

MPS w/o SE

2023 2024 2025

PVS w/o SE PVS w/o SE

PVS w/o SE

PVS w/o SE

Updated Dec

2013


OpenVMS outlook

Fixed

• No port to Integrity i4 “Poulson” servers

• Sales of new i2 Servers until end 2015

– Upgrades until end 2016

• No OpenVMS virtual machine guest support under HP VM v6

Flexible

• Support life of OpenVMS v8.4 / Integrity

• Support life of OpenVMS pre 8.4

• Sales life of HP Renew i2 servers

• Support of HPVM v4.3 guests for existing OpenVMS customers

• Tools and migration assistance





• Questions


Migrating applications off OpenVMS

• General comments

• Possible target platforms

• Strategies (approaches to modernization and migration)

• Technical challenges

• Non-technical issues

• How HP can help

• Some final comments


Some general comments

• There are no simple universal solutions

o Every situation is different

o You can’t just go and buy a migration or modernization solution off the shelf

o Often need to get quite creative

• Develop or customize tools

• Leverage Open Source

o Sometimes re-development or replacement are the only viable options

• Expect the unexpected

o These types of projects can be very difficult

o It’s not a perfect world

OpenVMS is probably one of the most challenging platforms to migrate applications off. Applications will often be

written in multiple languages and will invariably make considerable use of OpenVMS system calls, library routines,

and operating system features.


Possible target platforms

Or possibly something else...

NonStop


Approaches to modernization and migration

• Relearn – Capture the intellectual property investment that

has been made in heritage applications, and enable that investment to be preserved and carried forward through other modernization activities

– Always a good starting point

• Re-factor – Code optimization to improve run time efficiency

and code maintainability

• Re-host – Migrate applications to lower-cost modern

platforms without significantly changing business logic

• Re-interface – Create new interfaces to better leverage and extend

application features and value

• New user interfaces

• New integrations with other systems

• Re-architect – Re-engineer applications using modern

technologies

• Replace – Replace existing applications with COTS packages

• Retire – Decommission applications

An overall migration strategy may encompass many of the above. This will almost certainly be the case for most OpenVMS application environments.



Different approaches have different cost and risk profiles. It is often useful to perform low-risk

activities such as documenting the existing application environment and re-factoring (polishing) application code before launching into some form of platform migration, as the knowledge gained from these preparatory activities can provide invaluable

input to migration planning, reducing risk.


Simplified typical application illustration


Hardware platform / Itanium i2, Alpha

OpenVMS

Batch-work Interactive workload

Database(s)

Application Business Logic

User or application Interface

Of course in reality it is rarely

this simple!


Initial adaptation


OpenVMS


Database(s)


.NET client Java client Python client Web client COBOL

(OpenVMS) client

Integration broker

(cluster)

Stub


New functionality


OpenVMS


Database(s)


.NET client Java client Python client Web client COBOL

(OpenVMS) client

Integration broker

(cluster)

Stub

Hardware platform / X86

Windows or Linux

workload Database(s)

New Application Logic

Stub


Incremental retirement

Hardware platform / Itanium i2

OpenVMS


Database(s)


.NET client Java client Python client Web client COBOL client

Integration broker

(cluster)

Stub

Hardware platform / X86

Windows or Linux

workload Database(s)

New Application Logic

Stub

Business logic is incrementally moved to the new platform until a point is

reached where the old platform can finally be

decommissioned


Simplified typical application environment


OpenVMS


Database(s)


User Interface


Move database 2012 2013 2014

• Moving databases (and possibly other data sources) can provide additional capacity on the OpenVMS systems

• Can be a useful first step as part of a larger migration effort

• Database conversions/migrations can be complex/difficult

• Code changes may be required to interact with the new database environment

• Can be subtle differences between different relational databases

• Data integration tools such as those provided by Attunity (http://www.attunity.com/) may be useful

• Need to consider network bandwidth

Itanium i2, Alpha

OpenVMS

Batch Work Interactive

work


X86

Linux / Windows

Database

User Interface

http://www.attunity.com/


Move workloads (hypothetical scenario) 2012 2013 2014 2015

Itanium i2, Alpha

OpenVMS

Batch Work Interactive

Work


X86

Linux / Windows

Database New Batch Functions

User Interface

In this hypothetical scenario, the database, interactive work, and some batch functions have been migrated to the new platform, and only some batch (and maybe reporting) functions remain on OpenVMS. The next step would be to move or decommission (retire) these remaining functions...


Migrate or retire remaining OpenVMS components 2013 2014 2015

OpenVMS Jobs

Interactive Work


X86

Linux / Windows

Database Batch

Functions Translate or

redevelop

User Interface

If feasible and if planned and executed properly, this type of incremental migration can significantly reduce risk; however if not planned and executed properly it can result in a very big mess from which it is difficult to recover. The target architecture must be clearly and fully defined and be valid for the total duration of the overall migration project; there must be commitment to complete the project, with appropriate sponsorship, governance, and funding; and most importantly there must be good people with the right skills to get the job done.


Refactoring

Refactoring is: “The process of changing a software system in such a way that it does not alter the external behavior of the code, yet improves its internal structure”. (Fowler et al, "Refactoring", 1999). For many applications it may be possible to make some initial changes to the code within the OpenVMS environment that will subsequently make it easier to port the code, and this is something that should be considered on a case-by-case basis when designing a migration solution.


Refactoring

• Opportunity to clean up current codebase

o Language standards

o Consistency (coding style)

o Better error checking

o Comments

o ...

• Optimise using new features or methods

• Recompile with latest compiler versions

o Eliminate compiler warnings

• Remove redundant code / modules

• Reduce, remove, or isolate architecture dependencies where possible

• Refine and tidy up build processes

• Refine and tidy up documentation

• Undertaking such activities can provide excellent groundwork for next stage of a porting/migration project

o May help to provide good input around effort required to move, possibly steering decision process and options

o Reacquaints developers with code that has perhaps not been looked at for some time

o Gets the application into better shape for any subsequent port/migration

o Optimizations might also provide performance headroom to allow the migration to be carried out

Ideally some level of refactoring should be an ongoing activity throughput the life of any software application, as there is

invariably scope for improvement, and it helps to keep developers familiar with the code.


Some other things to consider

• Issues faced by migration projects can be technical and non-technical

o Most technical issues can be solved

o Non-technical issues can often be the biggest challenge...

Any migration involving mission-critical systems requires wide-ranging review and planning so that all issues and opportunities affecting the business, its technologies, its staff, and its customers are well understood in advance.

A study should cover business risk, business continuity, technical risk, technical complexity, resource issues, constraints, timescales, and anticipated costs.

(http://www.openvmsmigration.com)

http://www.openvmsmigration.com/


Some typical non-technical issues • Some common issues faced by porting/migration projects...

• Lack of business knowledge

• Poor documentation

• Poor executive sponsorship

• Weak project management

• Poor test coverage/procedures

• Inexperienced project team

• Business wanting functional change in parallel with migration

• Poor planning/estimating

As with other software projects, more often than not, migration/porting projects fail or go badly not for technical reasons but for reasons such as poor planning, poor estimation, wrong skill mix, weak project management, lack of governance and/or executive sponsorship, and so on. Always keep in mind that good people and proper processes are more important to any project than technology!


Some technical challenges

• Missing code

o Potentially a show-stopper, depending on what the code does and how much of it there is

o Do you have documentation/specifications?

• Software products, programming languages, and/or operating system features not available for the target platform

• Old code not compliant with newer compiler versions

• Specialist drivers/hardware interfaces

o Can be a show-stopper

o May need to replace other (external) components

• Subtle current and target platform differences

• Performance considerations

• ...


How can HP assist?

• Discovery Sessions / Seminars

• Architectural workshops

o Would typically be performed as the first stage of any large modernization/migration initiative

o The main intent of such workshops is to:

• Conduct in-depth discussions on the current OpenVMS-based application environment and assist in the definition of future goals and how to achieve them

• Provide information on existing and future technology provided by HP, HP’s partners, and Open Source options

• Identify areas of further investigation that can be tested in proof of concept projects

• In-depth assessment of the current environment

• Introduction of new technologies and toolsets

• Application porting/migration

• Training





• Questions


Migrating applications off OpenVMS

• Just about every migration project is different

• Some imagination and creativity is often required

• Consider your options very carefully

– Investigate what others have done

– Validate your ideas (proof-of-concept)

– Consider ROI/TCO

– Does a particular option make commercial sense?

• Migration projects often require a diverse set of skills

– Ensure senior team members are suitably experienced

– Technical

– Project management

– Testing

– ...

• Understand the consequences of “big-bang” versus incremental

• Do not underestimate testing effort

• For some applications migration might not be practical or might not make commercial sense

• Don’t make things more complicated than they need to be

• Ensure there's a solid foundation for the project

– Planning

– Appropriate executive sponsorship

– Sufficient budget

– Strong project management

– Suitably skilled and experienced team

Summary...some final comments

HP can help, be it with workshop sessions, short-term consulting assignments, or with project-based delivery

of larger parcels of work.


Questions ?

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