Salem Automation Logo
Connect With Us

Case Studies

Consolidating a Sprawling VAX and Alpha Estate onto Modern Servers

The Client

The client is a U.S. naval research and warfare center based in Rhode Island, USA. The organization relied on legacy OpenVMS systems running on DEC VAX and Alpha hardware to support critical research and operational workloads. To modernize its infrastructure while maintaining system continuity, the client engaged Salem Automation to perform a phased migration that included emulation, server consolidation, and platform migration, with the onsite work completed over approximately nine days as part of a 6–10 week project.

The Challenge

Multiple business-critical applications ran across a sprawl of aging DEC VAX and Alpha computers spanning numerous legacy nodes. The hardware was obsolete and increasingly risky.

  • Scarce spare parts, failing mechanical disk and tape drives, and mounting maintenance costs
  • Significant failure exposure and support burden spread across many independent machines

The Solution

Salem replaced the legacy fleet with VAX and Alpha emulators on hardened Windows Server hosts running on HP DL380 G5 servers, using server consolidation to run multiple emulated systems per physical machine. The turnkey scope included hardware, software, integration, phased onsite installation, system-manager training, and a one-year Gold support agreement backed by a 3-year 24×7, 4-hour on-site response.

The Results

  1. Licensing & Planning — Secured sanctioned OpenVMS transfer licenses and organized the migration into two phases to minimize operational disruption.
  2. Phase 1 — VAX Nodes — Migrated the VAX estate over roughly five days onsite, consolidating multiple emulated systems per server.
  3. Phase 2 — Alpha Nodes — Migrated the Alpha estate over roughly four days onsite, completing the consolidation.
  4. Performance & Handover — Delivered major performance gains across nodes, modern CD/DVD and tape backups, and system-manager training.

More Case Studies

Curious To See How We Can Help Your Business?

Connect With Us

Maintain Thriving Legacy Systems with Salem Automation

Get In Touch
Find A Partner
We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our website, to show you personalized content and targeted ads, to analyze our website traffic, and to understand where our visitors are coming from.
Agree