HP is continuing to rapidly improve its HP-UX Unix operating system.
As part
of a new software and hardware roll-out HP is
releasing HP-UX 11i version 3.
The new Unix version boasts improved storage, performance and virtualization features, raising the stakes against Unix competitors IBM and Sun
as well as Linux.
The version 3 update comes just under two months after HP fortified HP-UX 11i version 2 with new security features.
Though HP is announcing what appears to be a rapid succession of Unix updates, Nick van der Zweep, director of virtualization and software for HP’s Business Critical Systems, argued that customer update fatigue is not an issue. Van
Der Zweep noted that HP provides quarterly updates for HP-UX.
“I wouldn’t call it fatigue since the customer based absolutely demands that
we add more features and security and they pick and choose when they want to
upgrade, ” Van Der Zweep said.
The version 3 release is also not necessarily a major revenue event for HP
either: existing HP-UX subscribers get version 3 as part of their
subscriptions without additional cost.
By moving from version 2 to version 3 on the exact same hardware, users may
well notice a real difference, real fast.
Van Der Zweep boasted that version
3 provides a 30 percent performance improvement over version 2. Part of that
performance improvement comes via an improved I/O (input/output) stack.
The I/O stack improvements also empower HP-UX 11i version 3 with what Van Der
Zweep called “unlimited storage” capacity.
There is actually a limit but the limit is 100 million zettabytes of storage, which is an amount that is
barely comprehensible. One zettabyte is equal to 1 billion terabytes
Sun’s Solaris Unix operating system actually now also deals in zettabytes with its ZFS (Zettabyte file system) which became part of Solaris in 2005.
With HP-UX 11i version 3, HP is also set to have its Unix certified under the UNIX 2003 standard, an effort to help define a set of APIs and functionality across Unix to allow for application portability.
Both IBM, with its AIX 5L V5.3 Unix, and Sun Solaris 10 are already Unix 2003 certified.
Van Der Zweep noted, however, that most customer don’t come to HP asking
specifically for the Unix 2003 certifications.
“We have the functionality there in HP-UX and to a certain extent it’s
just a check-off item,” Van Der Zweep said. “Customers don’t demand
certification — they are just worried if their application runs well and that
the availability stands up over time.”
HP’s New Unix Supports Near Limitless Storage
