RE: A Younger Prospective (was Re: NT vs AS/400)

["John Taylor" <john.taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Erik,

Please print this, put it in an envelope, and address it to Lou Gerstner,
c/o IBM.


John Taylor
Canada

p.s. Change the d*mn subject line to something like "A Fresher Perspective";
33 isn't that old. ;-)

p.s.s. Full message text intentionally left in place in case someone at IBM
missed the original!


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
> [mailto:owner-midrange-l@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Erik Mitsch
> Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2001 11:05 PM
> To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Subject: A Younger Prospective (was Re: NT vs AS/400)
>
>
> Hey all,
>
> I just wanted to throw in my two cents (or for you Pentium fans,
> that's 1.9839238325732899032 cents) on the NT vs. iSeries discussion.
>
> I'll be blunt - I'm mad.
>
> Since the first time I ever typed "LOAD *.*,8,1" into my Commodore
> 64, I was using MS-DOS.  Eventually, I got my Tandy 1000TL
> and "upgraded" to Windows 3.1.  From there, things only got better -
> Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, and most recently,
> Windows 2000.  Interspersed in with 95-2000, I started getting UNIX
> experience thanks to the University of Delaware, waking that deep
> seated text-based DOS knowledge out of it's coma.  I've even started
> taking a jab at Linux.
>
> Let's suffice it to say that I was used to two extremes:
>
> 1. User-friendly and unstable, or
> 2. Mostly baffling (or as my friends titled it, user-surly) and
> slightly more stable except when under multiple user duress.
>
> Then, one day, I found myself staring dead on at a machine that I had
> never even heard of - as AS/400.  Having played with servers in the
> past (NT, mainly), I was skeptical at best.  Then I started learning
> what the thing is capable of.
>
> If you have two AS/400s, your practically guaranteed 100% uptime.
> Though it may cost you a small fortune, you'll probably never have to
> buy new hardware (or base OS/DB software, with the right
> subscriptions) for, say, a couple of decades.  UD runs at least 5
> different UNIX servers - with the main mail/web server dying at least
> once a week for the past 5 years (much to my chagrin, usually), and
> ALWAYS running slower than molasses on a cold day in northern
> Alaska.  Let's not even get into my experiences on an NT server.
> Suffice it to say that a 6 computer network frightened the thing into
> a BSOD coma three times a day.
>
> Oh, and Java?  We've all seen what happens with Java on the iSeries.
>
> So, to make a long story short (too late, I know) - I've finally seen
> a server that could effectively serve as a true business machine
> without having to run upwards of 20 different server nodes and a
> staff of 10-15 people on call 24 hours a day.
>
> Blessed relief for my server angst, right?
>
> Wrong - for just the reasons we've been talking about on this list.
> Yes, the machines cost a small fortune.  Yes, IBM supports their
> customers that have the thing - but they seem to be the only ones
> that even know it exists.  Yes, IBM seems to not really care if the
> line lives or dies (at least if you just pay attention to the
> marketing).
>
> Frankly, my reasons for not wanting to see the iSeries die are
> probably a lot different from most of yours.  Most of you don't want
> to see it die because it's your livelihood and you know it inside and
> out.  I don't want to see it die because I really like the concept
> behind the machine, and I'd love to learn more about it - if it goes,
> I lose that chance.  I lose the change to learn about the best
> business machine that it seems no one has ever heard of.  I know it's
> selfish, but I'd rather not lose that chance.
>
> Thanks for indulging my little rant here about the direction I'm
> coming from, but I hope it helps some people understand a different
> prospective on this whole thing.
>
> - Erik
> http://www.baron-inc.net

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