AlphaServer Consolidation

AlphaServers may be, due to their original nature, systems with a fairly large footprint, energy consumption and high cost of ownership. CHARON-AXP helps the Alpha user to cut down the operational costs of maintaining the Alpha-based applications. By moving the Alpha applications to a CHARON-AXP based solution one can gain on many levels:

First, by downsizing the large Alpha to a modern server - especially when using slim-line rackmounts – the maintenance cost and the energy consumption decrease significantly.

Second, use the modern processor chip technology, offering servers with 2 - 16 CPU-cores inside. Every Virtual Alpha CPU requires one host CPU and a portion of the remaining CPU capacity for supporting activities. This means that one can run – depending on the load - five to six single CPU CHARON-AXP occurrences on one host system with eight CPU cores.

This is downsizing footprint, energy consumption and hardware costs on a grand scale.

When host systems with more CPUs become available, one can run even more AlphaServers on one small box and gain Alpha application performance at the same time.

For example, using the Blade server concept, many host computers can be fitted into one rackmount computer creating a pool of host systems that can deliver over a hundred CPU's. With appropriate planning and configuration, a large AlphaServer installed base will fit into one Blade Server rack.

The combination of the Blade, CHARON-AXP and SAN technologies can provide a compact, fast and low cost solution for an entire AlphaServer park replacement. Read more about this concept in the CHARON-AXP user documentation.

Click here for more technical details about AlphaServer consolidation with CHARON-AXP.