Security has been a major topic of discussion in the computer industry since its infancy. With the advent of the internet, the cloud and the internet of things the issue of securing computing devices has become front page news and the interest of everyone from fortune 500 CEOs to anyone with a debit card or smart phone.
In February of 1978 an innovative company developed a Computing Architecture with Security designed into the Core of its Architecture. That company was Digital Equipment Corporation and the Architecture then was called VAX/VMS.
Throughout the decades since the initial release of the VAX/VMS Architecture the VMS operating system has gone through hardware migrations from the 32 bit VAX to the 64 bit Alpha in November of 1992 and the current 64 bit Itanium. In October of 1990 VMS underwent a name change to OpenVMS which is intended to reflect the flexibility of the operating system to embrace change including Open Standards and the utilization of Open Source Software where appropriate.
Over the past 18 years, since Digital Equipment Corporation was merged with Compaq in 1998 and was later purchased by HP, OpenVMS has gone through some tough times with the lack of marketing and the push for high profit margins fueled by the sales of commodity hardware and operating systems.
Whereas there is currently a lot of work being done to retrofit the commodity hardware and operating systems by providing constant updates to make security available, mostly as an after thought, there is still One Operating System Architecture that was Developed with Security by Design. Of course I am referring to OpenVMS and the dedication of the OpenVMS Developers to provide a Stable and Secure Computing Ecosystem for the User Community.
During this time of turmoil as many rumors, circulated by the media and by commodity hardware and operating systems proprietors, espouse the impending doom of OpenVMS the Community of Users that require a Stable and Secure Computing Environment continued to rely on OpenVMS.
During this tumultuous time a culture has developed that embraces continuous system updates and reboots. This culture lives in constant fear from attack upon their system databases and infrastructure. Somehow this constant state of fear and loathing has become business as usual.
I am here to tell you that you do not have to live in this culture. Some folks may remember a time when they did not live in this constant state of fear and most of those folks will remember that during the time of almost worry free computing that they were using an infrastructure developed by Digital Equipment Corporation.
Recently a visionary group of folks dedicated to the Engineering Principals first employed by Digital Equipment Corporation in Customer Satisfaction convinced HP that they should be given a chance to bring OpenVMS into the next technological epoch. VMS Software Inc. has obtained the rights from HP carry OpenVMS into the future and to accomplish this task VSI has enlisted the help of many very experienced members of the Digital Equipment Corporation VMS Engineering Team.
The good folks at VMS Software Inc. are dedicated to the OpenVMS Community and the future development of OpenVMS. VSI embraces the values of Operating System Stability and Security Designed into OpenVMS from its first release. VSI also understands the need to move OpenVMS into the new Technological Ecosystem of Commodity Hardware by announcing the port of OpenVMS to the x86-64 Architecture (currently scheduled for 2018).
Along with the move to Commodity Hardware VMS Software Inc. has recognized the need to utilize the OpenVMS Operating System to enhance the Stability and Security of Virtualization and Cloud Computing as Technologies.
The OpenVMS Cloud Research Center is being started to help build the OpenVMS Operating System into the Modern Computing Ecosystem by providing Stable and Secure Virtualization and Cloud Computing Technologies. The goal of the OpenVMS CRC is to work closely with the good folks at VMS Software Inc. and together make a culture shift back to one of Worry Free Computing where rebooting is not accepted as a fix for everyday issues.
Welcome to a new Worry Free Paradigm of Cloud Computing using OpenVMS
“Over the next five years, a majority of organizations will stop managing their own infrastructure”
“…the majority of IT leaders expect that, for the next five years or more, their computing requirements will be supported by hybrid environments built on a mix of public cloud services; offsite, dedicated private cloud datacenters; on premise private clouds; and traditional noncloud on premise, outsourced, and hosted IT resources.”
source: IDC
Initially the goal will be to configure a stable OpenVMS platform utilizing the AVT Bare Metal Alpha Emulator. The prototype of this work was presented to The OpenVMS Boot Camp in September of 2015.
The Presentation OpenVMS in The Cloud discusses what was done to accomplish the task of running OpenVMS in an IaaS cloud infrastructure and what will need to be accomplished for a future with OpenVMS in “The Cloud”. Utilizing hardware provisioned from the ProfitBricks infrastructure and the AVT Bare Metal Alpha Emulator we got OpenVMS running in “The Cloud”.
During the initial investigation the following conclusions were considered:
- The Investigation Produced only a Rudimentary Cluster Environment. However, with a bit of work a Robust Cluster is Achievable.
- There were issues with TCPIP. However, some Workarounds Provided a Stable Network.
- More Testing needs to be done with the DECnet Phase V Network Software.
- More testing needs to be prepared with a diverse group of cloud purveyors.
- If the desired need is only for a non-Clustered, Standalone VMS System, then with a Few Tweaks an OpenVMS Environment can be easily configured for Testing and Possibly More.
- OpenStack OpenVMS Provisionable Images Needs to be Investigated.
The OpenVMS Cloud Research Center will focus on these conclusions as starting points when creating a new Worry Free Paradigm of Cloud Computing using OpenVMS where your environment will be both Stable and Secure in The Cloud.
As the community broadens and matures their use of application platforms, it is becoming increasingly focused on standardising their processes to make sure they are more time and money-efficient. They are also figuring out how and when to adopt a cloud architecture at the infrastructure level (IaaS), and when to incorporate the cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) tier.
Would it be advantageous if you told your number crunching cohorts that you could port your current OpenVMS application to a cloud environment thereby creating a new Secure Paradigm of Cloud Computing using OpenVMS. To begin with one could port to an IaaS environment, somewhat like a remote datacenter, and as critical applications begin to present themselves as amenable develop them to work in a SaaS Environment.
The OpenVMS Cloud Research Center will be developing the tools necessary to utilize a Virtualized OpenVMS in a Cloud Environment. The OpenVMS CRC will also be available for testing new versions of software including Open Source tools for OpenVMS in and out of The Cloud.
Have Fun,
twhjr – Thomas W. Heim Jr. (OpenVMSCloud@HeimNet.com)
VMS Zealot and defender of the true faith.
If you don’t have time to do it right,
when will you have time to do it over?
NOTE: Dirigible image of the US Navy ship the USS Akron
vmszealot 