ADSM-L

Re: [ADSM-L] VMWare and software archeology

2007-09-06 19:31:28
Subject: Re: [ADSM-L] VMWare and software archeology
From: Wojtek Pięcek <woju AT PINGWIN.WAW DOT PL>
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 01:29:28 +0200
On 9/5/07, Thomas Denier <Thomas.Denier AT jeffersonhospital DOT org> wrote:
> I work for a large hospital. Four or five years ago one of the clinical
> departments replaced a system used to collect and store results from
> procedures. The old system was built around a proprietary database and ran
> on a Windows 95 platform that was getting old even when the system was
> replaced. The department concluded that it was economically infeasible to
> migrate the contents of the proprietary database to the replacement system.
> The department still needs read-only access to the information in the old
> database. Depending on the demographics of their patients, they may need
> this kind of access for another 20 years; clinical data is normally
> retained for 7 years after collection or 7 years after the patient's 18th
> birthday, whichever is later. The department has so far maintained
> read-only access to the data by keeping the old system up and running with
> no network connection. The staff access old records using the system's own
> keyboard and monitor. The department has also had the IS department retain
> the last TSM backups of the old system. If they need access to their data
> after the old system stops working, they expect us to perform a bare metal
> recovery to replacement hardware. This strategy will get less and less
> plausible as Windows 95 recedes further into the past. I don't know whether
> we have any alternatives to the this strategy. In particular, I don't know
> whether the old software will run under newer versions of Windows, and I
> don't know whether we still have usable distribution media for the old
> software.
> Can VMWare simulate a hardware environment compatible with Windows 95 even
> when the host system is using contemporary hardware?

Generaly, I have some problem with running win95 on esx. For now -
without success.

> For example, can
> VMWare simulate an IDE disk drive if the host system is really using SATA,
> local SCSI, or a SAN to access disk drives?

Maybe VMware Server will be better, they can simulate ide disc, raw
partition acces and others.

And is free - but You can buy support for them from vmware. Can be
managed by virtual center too.

>


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