Throughout it's long history, the OpenVMS operating system has established a 
solid reputation for reliability, resiliency and high performance. 
Consequently, it has a passionate core group of users who have remained 
committed to OpenVMS through the succession of several parent companies: 
Digital Equipment, Compaq, and currently Hewlett Packard. HP has refreshed 
their commitment to invest in OpenVMS development and maintain it on the latest 
HP processors. There is every reason to expect their users will continue to 
rely upon OpenVMS for years to come.

For many years enterprise customers have used EMC NetWorker to protect OpenVMS 
platforms and the Oracle-based applications that run on them. The NetWorker 
team is in the process of refreshing it's support for OpenVMS by updating the 
NetWorker software used to protect OpenVMS systems to version 8.0. This 
refreshed support means that NetWorker users in healthcare, government and 
other vertical markets can upgrade their entire NetWorker environment to the 
most current versions and continue to protect the OpenVMS platforms used for 
business critical applications. 

The NetWorker team is looking for NetWorker users who can be candidates to 
participate in a testing program for NetWorker 8.0 on OpenVMS systems. Testing 
is expected to commence in October, 2013.

Candidate customers will have met the following two requirements:

* Upgraded their NetWorker server version to 7.6 or 8.0.  
* Using NetWorker to protect OpenVMS clients running on Alpha and/or Integrity 
systems

Optionally, candidates may also meet one or more of the following:

* An OpenVMS platform in a test environment
* Using Storage nodes on an OpenVMS platform driving I/O to a backup device 
(either dedicated and/or remote storage nodes qualify)
* Using the NetWorker client to protect classic Oracle and/or Oracle Rdb data 
bases.

A partial list of new features in NetWorker 8.0 that are now supported with 
OpenVMS clients include:

* Client Direct to AFTD, including Data Domain via NFS/CIFS
* Multi-pathing for AFTDs
* Generation of RMAN scripts for Oracle backups

Note: Support for OpenVMS on VAX systems has transitioned into end of life and 
VAX systems are excluded from this test.

Interested candidates can easily and quickly register for the testing program 
at EMC's feedback central portal. Cut/paste the following URL into your browser:
https://feedbackcentral.emc.com/callout/?callid=414D337B067246D49F69E8C8FB4158B8

If you have not previously registered for a testing program with EMC, you will 
be prompted to create a user account in Feedback Central. Once completed, you 
will be asked to proceed to the next step and complete the qualifier form. You 
will be notified by a member of the NetWorker team once your qualifier has been 
reviewed.

Best regards,
Mark Wiertalla
Product Manager