Re: stuck on slow cisc box ... options? -- MIDRANGE-L

Bob,

If budget is the primary concern, at one time, IBM Credit was offering a
financing option that postponed payments for up to six months. (I don't remember
if that applied only to new customers or covered upgrades.) I know budget isn't
your only issue here since you mentioned other projects that need your attention
(and a CISC to RISC migration while pretty straightforward isn't a trivial
exercise as far as your time is concerned). I'd just hate to see you put money
into something that you'll discard in a matter of months although used CISC
equipment is pretty darn cheap.

Given that IBM is nearly desperate to sell equipment this quarter, it might pay
to see if you can negotiate not only a great deal on a hardware upgrade as well
as on a contract to do the migration planning for you.

None of this might be appropriate for you but it's a thought.

Randy Mangham
Pacific Crest Consulting
San Diego, CA

Bob Clarke 3rd x4502 wrote:

> Greetings - I am presently responsible for our corporate AS/00 .. a cisc
> model 310-2043.  This system is absolutely overworked, and we will be
> looking at a risc upgrade after the first of the year (current budget,
> projects, etc. eliminate the possibility of doing so sooner).  Meanwhile, I
> need to look into my options with regard to upgrading the existing
> configuration.  I've already tweaked memory pools, time slices, etc. as best
> as I can.  Minimally I plan to upgrade memory as all indications (mostly
> monitoring wrksyssts day to day) are that we would see <some> improvement by
> doing so.  Basically, I'm just looking to tide us over till late spring
> without spending a fortune.  I do have a couple of questions:
>
>         - My 'AS/400 Handbook' states that 'A #5144 external Additional
> Battery Backup' is required when the Main Storage
>           exceeds 384M.' - which will be the case as I will be upgrading
> from 256mb to the max. 832mb.  Unfortunately I cannot find        any info
> in the handbook re: the #5144.  This entire system is on a properly sized
> UPS which is running at around 40%        capacity.  Would I still need a
> #5144?
>
>         - Is it possible to upgrade just the processor?  As I mentioned,
> we're running a 2043, but a significantly faster 2044 is
>           available for the 310.  Where it's just a feature card I can't
> imagine why it would not be a simple card swap - unless
>           there would be any compatibility issues with other components(?).
> If this is possible, does anyone know where I
>           might find a 2043 and roughly how much it would cost?
>
>         - One question unrelated to my performance issue - I recall having
> read/heard somewhere that in addition to controller 1,
>           port 0, address 0 there is another port designated for system
> console (backup?).  Now I can't find that info anywhere.
>           Does anyone know which it is or know where I may have read this?
> I want to say it's either controller 1, port 1, address 0         or
> controller 2, port 0, address 0 - but I just don't remember.
>
> Thanks heaps for any help anyone might be able to provide.
>
> Regards,
>
> Bob Clarke
>
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