[Hoff]

Interesting article. Rather than arguing what can or cannot be done or what might or might not work, here's some code, and some history.

Here's full-mixed-language programmable, locally- and fully-remote-debuggable, mixed-user and inner-mode processing unikernel, and with various other features...

This from 1986...

http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/vax/vaxeln/2.0/VA...

FWIW, here's a unikernel thin client EWS application that can be downloaded into what was then an older system, to make it more useful for then-current X11 applications...

From 1992...

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/info/SP3368/SP3368PF.PDF

Anybody that wants to play and still has a compatible VAX or that wants to try the VCB01/QVSS graphics support in some versions of the (free) SIMH VAX emulator, the VAX EWS code is now available here:

http://www.digiater.nl/openvms/freeware/v50/ews/

To get an OpenVMS system going to host all this, HPE has free OpenVMS hobbyist licenses and download images (VAX, Alpha, Itanium) available via registration at:

https://h41268.www4.hp.com/live/index_e.aspx?qid=24548&desig...

Yes, this stuff was used in production, too.

[iheartmemcache]

Not only was it used in production, from the first-hand anecdotal accounts I've heard, the VAX/VMSclusters were near-z/OS level of reliability. For a brief time, it was used both in mission-critical environments as well as in academic institutions (basically two of the three large markets that existed during that era).

Every 10 years, the same thing gets re-invented. Take network block devices/clustered sharing. VMS had high-availability and each node you joined could use it's local disk as an aggregate resource. In the 90s you had AndrewFS and CODA (CMU's golden age IMO). Then Linux had the whole DRDB era which gained traction about 10 years ago right around the time Hadoop was gaining traction. OpenStack has Cinder. 10 years from now we'll have something else.

Anyways, great points and good post. VAXstations are available on ebay for pretty cheap, but I'd personally go with a hobbyist OpenVMS Alpha license running on ES40. I threw a setup together a few years back and it was neat. Thanks for the data-sheet, my father will get a huge kick out of it.

[Hoff]

There are presently OpenVMS servers and clusters in production in a number of locations, and new configurations are being installed — primarily for existing applications, obviously.

The most recent OpenVMS release shipped in June 2015, and the next release is due to ship in March 2016.

There's a port to x86-64 underway, as well.

For those looking for hardware for hobbyist use, used Integrity Itanium servers are usually cheaper than used working Alpha and VAX gear, and newer — working VAX and Alpha gear has become more expensive in recent years. Various VAX and Alpha emulators are available, either as open source or available to hobbyists at no cost.