HP NetServer Systems and the Year 2000
Web Sites for HP Netservers:
http://www.hp.com/netserver/newsrm/y2k.htm
http://www.hp.com/netserver/techlib/technotes/tbriefs/2000.htm
As the change to a new century rapidly approaches, IT managers are becoming concerned about how this change will affect their computer systems. Since time is generated and stored in multiple ways in a computer system, there are multiple aspects to consider when trying to determine if this change could cause a problem.
This paper will look at the HP NetServer system hardware level affects and provide directions to additional resources.
What could be affected by the Year 2000 change?
Applications
Although applications generally get the date and time from the operating system when they need it, some applications use only two digits to store the year. This can lead the application to misread the year 2002 as 1902. Since there are so many applications that can be used on an HP NetServer system, HP can only recommend that IT managers check the application vendor’s web site (often the company’s address is: http://www.companyname.com) or the application vendor’s representative, then test their applications for compliance.
Operating Systems
HP’s operating system partners have assured HP that they are addressing the Year 2000 issue. Additional information can be found at the web sites of HP’s operating system partners:
* Note: This link will take you outside the Hewlett-Packard Web site. HP does not control and is not responsible for information outside the HP Web site.
Use the search facility of the web site to look for the most current information on year 2000.
The System Hardware
Every HP NetServer system has a built-in Real-Time Clock (RTC) chip that constantly keeps track of the date and time. This chip is powered by the system power while the system is operating and by a small battery when the system power is off. When the system is booted up, the operating system reads the current date and time from the real-time clock chip and starts its own internal software based clock. Once the operating system is running, the operating system uses its own clock and does not reference the system real-time clock.
How are HP NetServer systems affected by the Year 2000?
Most HP NetServer systems will correctly handle the transition into the year 2000. The following systems change the date correctly:
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HP NetServer E 30 HP NetServer E 40 HP NetServer E 45 HP NetServer E 50 HP NetServer E 60 HP NetServer LC+ (5/75, 5/100, 5/133 and 5/166) HP NetServer LC II HP NetServer 2 HP NetServer LC 3 HP NetServer LD Pro HP NetServer LH HP NetServer LH Plus HP NetServer LH Pro HP NetServer LH II HP NetServer LM HP NetServer LS HP NetServer LX Pro HP NetServer LXe Pro HP NetServer LXr Pro HP NetServer LXr Pro8 HP NetServer LH 3 Continued..... HP NetServer LH 3r HP NetServer LH 4 HP NetServer LH 4r HP NetServer LPr HP NetServer LXr 8000 |
This includes all processor speeds and both uni-and multi-processor systems.
All future NetServers that are released are being designed to also change the date correctlly.
A few HP NetServer systems reset the real-time clock date to 01-04-1980 at midnight on 12-31-1999. To correct this situation, on or after 01-01-2000, manually reset the system clock to the correct date via either the EISA (System) Configuration Utility (ECU) or the MS-DOS "date" command. The system real-time clock will maintain the correct date from that point on. These systems will need to have the real-time clock reset on or after 01-01-2000.
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HP NetServer LC (4/66, 4/100, and 5/66) HP NetServer LE HP NetServer LF 486 S20 486 ST 486 T 486 U |
If these systems are operating when the date change occurs, any Year 2000 Compliant operating system will reflect the correct date but the real-time clock will be incorrect (as noted above, the operating system software clock is independent of the system real-time clock after the operating system is initialized). The next time the system is rebooted, the operating system will get the incorrect date from the real-time clock if it has not been manually reset. This incorrect date could cause problems with some applications
How is the HP NetServer Navigator affected by the Year 2000?
All current and future versions of the HP NetServer Navigators and the software components on the HP NetServer Navigator are Year 2000 compliant. Examples of software components that are Year 2000 compliant include, but is not limited to: Installation Assistant, Configuration Assistant, Diagnostic Assistant, DiagTools, NetRAID Assistant and Remote Assistant firmware. Previous versions of the HP NetServer Navigator had components that were not Year 2000 compliant such as:
HP NetServer Assistant (NSA)
HP NetServer Assistant Agents (NSA Agents)
HP TopTools for Servers (v1.0, v1.1, v3.0 and v3.1)
HP NetServer Agents (v1.0, v1.1, v3.0 and v3.1)
Customers using TopTools for Servers should upgrade to version 3.11 or later and v3.2 or later of the NetServer Agents. TopTools for Servers and the NetServer Agents are the replacement products for NetServer Assistant and the NetServer Assistant agents. Since NetServer Assistant is not Year 2000 compliant and will be obsolete at the end of 1998, customers using NetServer Assistant should upgrade to TopTools for Servers v3.11 or later.
How are HP NetServer Accessories affected by the Year 2000? Some HP NetServer Accessories do date-related processing and will therefore be affected by the Year 2000 transition. Examples of accessories that have date processing capabilities and are Year2000 compliant are:
- HP Remote Assistant Card - HP TopTools Remote Control CardOther HP NetServer Accessories, such as Hard Disk Drives, HP NetRAID controllers, Network Interface Cards (NICs), HP Disk Array Controller, and external storage, that do not do any date-related processing are considered to be Compliant.
Disclaimer Statement
HP has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of our product testing. However, because each customer's environment is different from HP's laboratory test environment, it is the customer's responsibility to validate the Year 2000 readiness of these products in their own environment. Therefore, information about the Year 2000 status of HP products is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. HP makes no representation or warranty respecting the accuracy or reliability of information about non-HP products. Such information was provided by the manufacturers of those products and customers are urged to contact the manufacturer directly to verify Year 2000 readiness.