So in the sciences we have massively expensive equipment (compared to our budgets) that often has a computer controlling it. Unfortunately, the equipment manufacturers don't usually maintain the software for very long and so that expensive equipment, which often lasts decades, is tied to an ancient operating system and the associated aging consumer grade PC.
The two main issues I'm looking at right now are: 1) how to mitigate the increasing difficulty of finding repair parts for aging computers, and 2) how to best bring them into compliance with IT security policies that say everything needs to be encrypted and on a supported OS.
I was thinking of migrate them to VMs which could be run locally on a modern hypervisor. From what I've read, most hypervisors aren't made for local use but Windows Server would do it. That would solve my issue of having a supported OS and allowing encryption. It would also make an easy way to migrate the whole system to a new computer if that needed to be replaced. It does seem a bit silly to run Windows Server to host a copy of XP, but that's my best solution so far.
Has anyone here had any success making such systems policy-compliant and relative future proof?
Other useful details: For my current challenge everything connects via USB. Also, I'm the guy using the equipment, not in IT. My technical skills are high enough to regularly enjoy this site, and run a tiny home lab, but probably not at your level.
The two main issues I'm looking at right now are: 1) how to mitigate the increasing difficulty of finding repair parts for aging computers, and 2) how to best bring them into compliance with IT security policies that say everything needs to be encrypted and on a supported OS.
I was thinking of migrate them to VMs which could be run locally on a modern hypervisor. From what I've read, most hypervisors aren't made for local use but Windows Server would do it. That would solve my issue of having a supported OS and allowing encryption. It would also make an easy way to migrate the whole system to a new computer if that needed to be replaced. It does seem a bit silly to run Windows Server to host a copy of XP, but that's my best solution so far.
Has anyone here had any success making such systems policy-compliant and relative future proof?
Other useful details: For my current challenge everything connects via USB. Also, I'm the guy using the equipment, not in IT. My technical skills are high enough to regularly enjoy this site, and run a tiny home lab, but probably not at your level.