OK, I apologize if I've mentioned this before and don't remember the answer (age..), BUT here goes: Let us say that you have an HP e3000 system (smart choice), and you've been paying HP for support on it for years (another pretty smart move), and then one day, BAM! (sorry Emeril) - - Your computer room gets hit by a rogue meteor [ya gotta watch out for them rogue meteors], and what was once a working computer system is now mildly radioactive [and hot!] rubble. In your time of grief [you were finally just about to beat everyone in 'Empire'] you turn to HP for solace and support.... and guess what? You're So Out Of Luck... HP tells you that the system you had paid support on is now making the Geiger-counter happy, and that any new hardware would be installed/set-up on a T&M basis (unless you've previously purchased HP's special Disaster Recovery support). T&M, of course, is pretty expensive, but you're willing to pay anything to get your system back up. The galling thing is that T&M is also way down on the scheduling food chain, and you need the system up NOW, along with some guarantee that it will all work. You've contracted with a DR company to supply you with hardware, and they drop off your replacement system. You manage to get a CE out there to hook up hardware and maybe help install an OS. You manage to get it all hooked up and hardware-happy - - but wait! THIS e3000 doesn't have the same HPSUSAN that your old one did? None of your software will work anymore! Almost all of the third-party software has contingency for this though, allowing you to work with your software vendors on some mutually happy resolution. (They've been paid for software on system type 'X" [you DID pay them, right?] so they're happy to get you working again on another system type 'X'. HP, however, is another story. You need to either contract for support on the new system, or do a license transfer from the old system before they'll touch this new box. Hey, that'll take a week or so. What's that? You don't own the box? You're leasing it? You're renting it? Well now, I guess nothing can happen without the owner's consent....[fade to black] This, gentle readers, is [you guessed it!] exactly what's been happening to us [well, without the meteors or downtime, as yet]. You see, we're trying to get some straight answer from HP on precisely what will happen on the eventual Day of the Meteor, and this is what we've been told: Your support is as dead as the box that was supported. Amazingly, I cannot seem to get any knowledgeable answers from any of the helpful folks I've spoken with. They want to help me with an answer, but they've never heard a question like this before, and that in itself amazes me - I would think that *someone* has had system problems before, where a replacement system needed to be up and going pronto-like. [Maybe not a meteor, but something else just as sudden and final.] So, for those of you who have run into this situation before, What Happened? What did you do? What did HP do for you? How long did it take to get back up and going again? What will you Not Do again? Enquiring minds - and our Disaster Recovery project - would be curious to know. Thank you very much for anything you want to offer! Curtis ----------------------------------------------------- Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail transmission may contain confidential or legally privileged information that is intended only for the individual or entity named in the e-mail address. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or reliance upon the contents of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail transmission in error, please reply to the sender, so that we can arrange for proper delivery, and then please delete the message from your inbox. Thank you. * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, * * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *