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Case Studies

Modernizing a Defense-Critical Alpha System Without Touching the Application

The Client

The client is a major aerospace and defense contractor based in California, USA. The company relied on a legacy OpenVMS environment running on a DEC AlphaServer (DS25) to support critical business operations. To modernize its infrastructure while preserving existing applications, the client engaged Salem Automation to perform a turnkey platform migration using Alpha emulation, with the onsite migration completed in approximately four days as part of a 6–10 week project.

The Challenge

A business-critical application ran on an aging DEC AlphaServer DS25. The obsolete hardware carried real operational risk, and a failure could have meant downtime with no easy repair path.

  • Obsolete spare parts, mounting maintenance contract costs, and reliance on obsolete tape drives for backups
  • Refrigerator-sized machines consuming valuable computer-room floor space and power

The Solution

Salem replaced the legacy DS25 with an Alpha emulator running on a hardened 64-bit Windows Server host on a single compact HP DL380 G6. The turnkey scope covered hardware, software, integration, onsite installation, and a one-year Gold support agreement — backed by a 3-year 24×7, 4-hour on-site response — with no application changes or recertification required.

The Results

  1. Licensing & Partner Setup — Secured the sanctioned transfer licenses needed to legally move the VMS environment onto modern hardware as a certified emulation partner.
  2. Configuration & Matching — Mapped disk containers, serial and tape ports, and peripherals to mirror the existing system exactly.
  3. Testing & Cutover — Ran Telnet-accessible testing and completed four days of onsite installation and cutover.
  4. Training & Handover — Delivered onsite system-manager training and enabled modern CD/DVD backups, optional SAN/RAID, and faster disk I/O.

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