Re: AS/400 vs PC as a server

[Neil Palmer <NPalmer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rich Brearley wrote:
> 
> I was talking to an associate yesterday on the life of midrange
> computers.  His view was that the PCS will take over the
> industry and there will be no use for Midrange or Mainframes.
> 
> I tried to discuss the point with him, but my limited knowledge
> of PC servers I was at a disadvantage.  My point to him was
> that a PC Server could not handle the large volumes of data a
> Midrange or a main frame could.  But without cold hard
> numbers I was unable to argue my point.
> 
> I would like to open a discussion on this so that I can become
> more knowledgeable.
> 

Rich, the short answer is your associate doesn't know what he's talking
about, so the chances of having a logical conversation with him on this
topic are probably nil.   :-)

I suppose he also thinks that minivans will also take over the
automotive industry and there will be no need for cars or trucks.

Your correct in your assumptions re scalability of PC servers.  There's
no way on earth they can scale anywhere near the size or large 400's or
mainframes.  Ask him how many PC servers he knows that can support 7000
interactive users (you can attach 7000 twinax devices to a model 530).
 

-- 
... Neil Palmer                                      AS/400~~~~~      
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