OpenVMS

OpenVMS (Open Virtual Memory System or just VMS) is the name of a high-end computer server operating system that runs on the VAX and Alpha family of computers developed by Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, Massachusetts (now owned by Hewlett-Packard), and more recently on Hewlett-Packard systems built around Intel Itanium CPU.

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OpenVMS is a multi-user, multiprocessing virtual memory-based operating system (OS) specifically designed for use in time sharing, batch processing, and transaction processing. It offers extremely high system availability including the ability to distribute the physical system over a wide geographical area, allowing the system to be "disaster-tolerant" against earthquakes, weather, and other natural disasters that may disable individual data-processing facilities.

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OpenVMS commercialized many features that are now considered standard requirements for any high-end server operating system. These include:

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• Built-in computer networking (originally DECnet and later, TCP/IP)
• Symmetrical, asymmetrical, and NUMA multiprocessing
• An operating system capable of distributing computation across a LAN and later across a WAN
• A distributed, highly-reliable file system (Files-11)
• Integrated database features (RMS-32 and Rdb)
• Support for essentially every computer language
• A procedure calling-standard that allows easy interoperation of these many languages
• A sophisticated, highly-extensible command language (DIGITAL Command Language)
• Hardware partitioning of multiprocessors
• Very high levels of security with DoD certification at various levels
• The same operating system ran "from desktop to datacenter"
OpenVMS: History ►



 

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