HPE NonStop Reviews

• Protection against single failure. This makes it an ideal product for critical applications as found in banking (ATM control, EFT, web based banking etc), telecoms (administrative mobile phone support, switches), and any business where high availability is required.
• Linear expandability. HP NonStop is probably the only solution in the market that offers this really. Double the amount of CPU's, and double the amount of transactions can be processed. Double the machines link them at highspeed, and a double amount of transactions can be processed. This makes it ideal in fast growing markets like we had with EFT/ATM's and mobile telephony.
• Upward software compatibilty. Upgrading to a new operating system version means, in the worst case, recompilation of user software. Normally the software will function without applying any changes.
• Stability. The protection against single failure requires a very stable product, both hardware and software.

As I worked for various organizations in various branches, it's difficult to give a single example.

Normally in banking, replacing systems with bigger ones is a long term process with lots of carefully executed procedures. I remember a Dutch bank in the early 90's that measured in September an enormous increase in EFT transactions. Their capacity would fail in a couple of months at Christmas, and for sure they couldn't afford this. Beginning in November, a new system with doubled capacity was tested and installed thanks to the linear expandability and software compatibility.

Like on any system, hardware speed always could be increased.

I have been using the product since 1987. Since then it evolved as hardware from propriety CPU powered to industry standard Intel CPU powered. The operating system essentially stayed the same, although various add-ons were developed.

I've never encountered any serious issues blocking operations in this area.

I've never encountered any serious issues blocking operations in this area.

I've never encountered any serious issues blocking operations in this area.

Both customer service and technical support are of a high level, 8-9/10. However, this can vary based on the type of service agreement.

Both customer service and technical support are of a high level, 8-9/10. However, this can vary based on the type of service agreement. My experience is that the technical staff really knows where they're talking about.

As said, I worked for several organizations. Most of the time they already used HP NonStop or had already made the decision to use it.

Intial setup is straightforward. I was originally a software developer, but experienced no problems on system setups which I have done that several times. But, of course it is complex in the way that you need to understand what you are doing.

It is completely dependent on the system size, organization and branch. However, HP NonStop platforms can be used in smaller and bigger organizations.

It's dependant on the system size, organization and branch. If the operational support team can be minimalized, ROI may be high. But, for example, banks have procedures that require leveled support, and this increases the operational costs.

HP NonStop hardware previously known as Tandem NonStop with the Guardian NonStop Operating System. Hardware and Operating System are being used together to provide "NonStop" operations with protection against single failure of a hardware or software component. On earlier systems, CPU power and system memory was paired on a single board, but in the newer now-a-days systems all can be configured within normal limits.

Essentialy it is a propriety solution, although also a Unix variant operating system is available that runs in parallel with Guardian. It is a nearly perfect product, although it also has some restrictions and short comings.

• Fault-Tolerance
• Availability
• Performance

It helps us to keep the business running 24/7. Our client is a bank and we need to run the show continuously. Availability is the key factor along with fault-tolerance. The system/application should be fault proof to withstand software/hardware failures and run 24/7 without downtime. Along with this performance, the current market situation demands that customers are not kept waiting.

These factors are pretty important for me while making a decision or designing the architecture.

I would like to see better scalability. I would like see them make it easier to port other applications in a plug-and-play manner.

I have used it for eleven years.

There have been no stability issues. These are the most stable servers in the fault-tolerance space.

There were some scalability issues. When we decided to migrate an application or port application, the limitations of these servers didn't help us.

I would give technical support a rating of 8/10.

HPE NonStop is expensive now. However, with a new solution of HPE NonStop on Xeon Processors and vNonStop, I am sure that the cost will come down drastically.

• Reliability which is important because we’re a bank and we want 100% uptime. So we need a system that doesn’t fail.
• Scalability is important because when the system load increases we want to be able to add power without downtime.

I work for a bank, and payment systems almost always run on HPE NonStop systems. So the organization doesn’t function without it.

Currently the NonStop platform doesn’t support virtualization of servers or CPU’s. Only storage. It would be nice to have virtual cpus or servers for use in test environments for example.

I work for companies that have always been using HPE NonStop systems.

We have not encountered any stability issues.

Good scalability is one of the main features of the NonStop systems.

Technical support is A++. If there is a problem, HPE will fix it.

I am not aware of any previous solutions.

Setup is complex, as payment systems are never simple.

NonStop systems are expensive so make sure you really need them.

There are no other options available for us.

• Fault tolerance 
• 99.9999999% up-time

Very adaptable to modern systems with message-based/queue-based architecture.

More and continued modernization.

I've used it for over 30 years.

This is the standard for reliability and fault-resilience.

This is the standard for scalability.

The NonStop Support Center is very good, with an occasional bump in the road.

• IBM mainframes
• Bull mainframes 
• Unisys mainframes

Straightforward, with detailed installation manuals.

It was done in-house. I would advise you  to have two or three dry runs at implementation, documenting everything.

I would recommend you to perform very firm price negotiations. Also, get the best price point and buy-in from C-level execs ASAP.