Table of Contents

General Description

HP Alpha Hardware Virtualization allows users of HP Alpha (Previously known as DIGITAL Alpha) computers to move application software and user data to a modern Intel or AMD based x64 compatible platform without having to make changes to software and data. HP Alpha Hardware Virtualization is a software solution that replaces HP Alpha hardware. 

This approach is best understood when the HP Alpha Hardware Virtualization Software is viewed as a special interface between the old HP Alpha software and a new hardware platform.  Basically, the Charon software presents a HP Alpha hardware interface to the original HP Alpha software, so that the existing software cannot detect a difference. This means no changes have to be made to the existing software. User programs and data can be copied to a new modern industry standard server (64-bit Intel or AMD) and continue to run for many more years.

The HP Alpha virtualization software is designed to replace single and multi-CPU HP Alpha computer systems, including:

• AlphaServer 400
• AlphaServer 800
• AlphaServer 1000
• AlphaServer 1000A
• AlphaServer 1200
• AlphaServer 2000
• AlphaServer 2100
• AlphaServer 4000
• AlphaServer 4100
• AlphaServer DS10
• AlphaServer DS10L
• AlphaServer DS15
• AlphaServer DS20
• AlphaServer DS25
• AlphaServer ES40
• AlphaServer ES45
• AlphaServer GS80
• AlphaServer GS160
• AlphaServer GS320

The principles of HP Alpha Hardware Virtualization

Virtualized hardware

Charon-AXP virtualizes various HP Alpha architectures and meets or exceeds the performance level of these HP Alpha systems when run on the recommended hardware platform.

The following table shows which hardware boards Charon virtualizes:

Host platform

The Virtualization Software presents standard HP Alpha devices to the HP Alpha operating system, allowing the OS to function as though it were still running on a HP Alpha computer. For example, virtual disk container files in a directory or physical devices of the host Linux platform are presented by the Virtualization Software to the HP Alpha OS as emulated SCSI disks attached to a PCI SCSI adapter.

With the use of current storage technology, disks do not have to be physically attached to the Host platform, they can also reside on a SAN or iSCSI storage structure. A similar translation process is also valid for other emulated hardware devices.