Introduction

In 1992 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) released the Alpha AXP processor, a high-performance 64-bit RISC processor supported by both OpenVMS and DEC OSF/1 (later Tru64 UNIX).  In 1998 DEC merged with Compaq Computer Corporation and in 2001 the decision was made to cease development of the Alpha processor and port OpenVMS and Tru64 UNIX to the Itanium.  With the merger of Compaq with Hewlett-Packard in 2002 the decision was made not to port Tru64 UNIX to Itanium.  Unfortunately, these decisions left a great number of customers without a platform to run their applications on.

To fill the continued need for the Alpha platform Stromasys S.A. has developed the CHARON-AXP/SMA(+) line of emulator products.  These emulators are a software-based, virtual machine replacement for the following native-hardware Alpha systems:

• Digital DEC 3000 Model 400
• DIGITAL AlphaStation 200, 250, 500, 600
• DIGITAL AlphaServer 300, 400, 800, 1000, 1200, 2000, 2100, 4000, 4100, 8200, 8400
• DIGITAL Personal Workstation au
• DIGITAL Modular Computing Components (DMCC)
• Compaq AlphaStation XP900, XP1000
• Compaq AlphaServer DS10, DS20, DS25, ES40, ES45

The CHARON-AXP/SMA(+) virtual machines allow users of DIGITAL, Compaq and HP Alpha-based computers to replace their native hardware counterparts, in such a way that there is little or no change required to the original system configuration.  This means you can continue to run your applications and data without the need to switch or port to another platform. The CHARON-AXP/SMA(+) virtual machines run on commodity, Intel 64 and AMD64 based systems ensuring your continued investment is protected.

Seamless Migration from Native to Virtual Alpha

The CHARON-AXP/SMA(+) virtual machines support the following guest operating system releases: 

• OpenVMS Alpha V6.1 - V8.4,
• Digital UNIX 3.2 - 4.0E, and
• Tru64 UNIX 4.0F - 5.1B-6