Oracle:

To all Virtua Customers:

Earlier this year VTLS announced tentative plans for the introduction of Oracle 9 and 10 on various platforms over the next two years.   In addition, we indicated when we expected to upgrade operating systems and of course, the schedule for release of the Virtua software itself. 

To reiterate, Virtua 43, our current release, is presently available in Oracle 8; however, Oracle will drop support for release 8 in December 2004.  We strongly recommend that customers move to Oracle 9 as soon as possible.  Advance planning is essential as new hardware may be necessary; Oracle 9 requires 64-bit architecture on all platforms except Intel/Linux.  . 

Virtua 44, due for release in all platforms during June and July 2004, will be available in Oracle 9 as indicated in the accompanying chart.  Looking ahead, Oracle has released version 10g and customers should begin to prepare for this upgrade as well.  Oracle 10 contains some nice benefits designed for the low-end user, including a friendlier user interface and faster backup processes.  The transition from Oracle 9 to 10 should not require additional hardware resources.  VTLS plans to upgrade quickly to Oracle 10 on all platforms so that we can continue to provide visionary solutions for our customers and remain competitive in the marketplace.

Based upon our experience working with Oracle 8 & 9, we have found that supporting Virtua on all platforms for both versions to be unduly problematic and therefore will not be offering release 44 on Oracle 8.  Customers currently on release 43 will continue to receive full support including bug fixes for this version on Oracle 8 as long as Oracle support remains available through the end of the calendar year.

In addition to Oracle upgrades, customers need to plan for operating system upgrades, as the two are often inseparable.  Current Linux customers on Oracle 8 should be using Red Hat 7.2 with Virtua 43.  Previously we had suggested that Red Hat 8 & 9 could be used; however, subsequent experience has demonstrated that these versions are not as stable and we can only fully support release 43 with Oracle 8 on Red Hat 7.2.  Linux customer will need to upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise AS or ES along with Oracle 9 to move to Virtua release 44 or higher.

HP customers currently running HP-UX 11 and Oracle 8 will need to upgrade to HP-UX11i and Oracle 9 for Virtua release 44; and IBM customers currently running AIX 5 and Oracle 8 with release 43 will need to upgrade to AIX 5.2 and Oracle 9 for Virtua release 44.    

Please refer to the attached chart for details concerning the upgrade path for each platform's OS and RDBMS as it relates to each Virtua release.  This chart can be used as a planning tool; however, the information contained does not represent a final commitment from VTLS.  These are tentative plans and are subject to change based on actions by third party vendors and suppliers.  Please contact VTLS in advance of purchasing any hardware or software required to support your installation.

If you have any questions please contact your nearest support office.

VTLS Inc, (USA)
hotline@vtls.com
1-800-858-8857 

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