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I've worked on a similar project, we tested two different approaches: Recompiling the COBOL codebase on Linux and accessing and loading it as shared objects (v
by karambahh 7y ago
I've worked on a similar project, we tested two different approaches:
Recompiling the COBOL codebase on Linux and accessing and loading it as shared objects (via JNI for JVM usage)
Running Hercules ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_%28emulator%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_%28emulator%29 ), an IBM mainframe emulator
The first one has lots of merits, as it allows for a progressive replacement of COBOL functionalities
The second one immediately lowers the TCO for obvious licensing reasons but does not plan for the future, particularly as COBOL developers retire and thus the resources are scarce.
(Anecdotally the customer chose both: recompilation & progressive replacement by Java code for core assets and emulation for "dead", non core, assets dev & staging environments)
- le-mark 7y agoThe second one immediately lowers the TCO for obvious licensing reasons How true is that though? They'd still have software licensing, they still need an OS to run on Hercules after all.
- mperham 7y agoNo expensive IBM hardware support/services needed.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- tyingq 7y agoIBM won't let you run OS/390, z/OS, etc, in Hercules for free. There's an ancient version of MVS you may be able to run with Hercules, but I'd expect a lawsuit anyway.
- karambahh 7y agoIt's been a long while.... At the time, RedHat was still "free". Linux sysadmins were cheaper than their mainframe colleagues. Hw was orders of magnitude cheaper. Floor occupancy was lower. We did not got as far as watts consumed per functional task performed but I doubt it would have tilted the balance?
- karambahh 7y agoSorry I misread your comment! You're obviously right for licensing inside the emulator! However, the costs are(were?) in hardware & floor occupancy (as in "decomission a whole room"-cheaper)
- fork1 7y agoNot just the OS, legacy applications tend to rely on DB2, CICS, IMS, and what not. All of those have expensive licenses and cannot readily run on emulation. Switching to Hercules does not solve the issue, unless your cobol apps are barebone batches.