RE: Scalability -- MIDRANGE-L

On Tue, 8 Feb 2005, Booth Martin wrote:

May I ask a tangential question here?  I have long wondered about something
pertaining to this discussion of unix & iSeries.  Do unix shops deploy
Windows PCs or do they deploy Linux or some variant?   Is the iSeries pretty
well committed to needing Windows workstations?  When one is discussing
scalability doesn't unix's ability to fill the need from keyboard to server
give unix the edge?  In general what is the discussion one would make about
unix and the user workstations?


I'll give a stab at answering this question.

I think it is important to remember that the iSeries doesn't necessarily require MS Windows PCs, though almost everyone does use them to work with their iSeries. You could continue to use stricly dumb terminals (though this is getting harder due to aging hardware). My shop and customers usage of MS Windows for iSeries connectivity ranges from 50% to 99% (i.e. 50% to 99% of the "green screens" are iSeries Access running on MS Windows). The remainder that isn't iSeries Access on MS Windows is either dumb terminals or tn5250 on linux. So I think it is fair to say that for me and all my customers the administration costs and burdens of an iSeries necessarily must include the administration costs and burdens of MS Windows (which is not very desirable). However, an iSeries shop could be set up that does not require the use of MS Windows and all it's attendant headaches and costs.

A unix shop is different. Or at least is potentially very different. While a unix shop could choose to have many MS Windows client (and why they would defies reason) it simply is not required. One of the great advantages of dumb terminal "green screens" is that they are very low maintenance and thus easy for one person to administer a large number. unix has the advantage of dumb terminals that are as feature rich as a full-blown PC. Each user doesn't need a PC to have all the applications they need to do their work.

But suppose a unix shop did decide to put a machine running unix on every desk instead of X terminals (the graphical, unix equivalent of dumb terminals). All those unix machines have synced passwords, shared filesystems, and simple remote administration. Because the filesystem is shared, upgrading applications means simply upgrading one machine and all the rest are instantly upgraded as well. Combine this with the password sync and that means any user can use any machine and the environment, files, settings, etc. are the same. The administration is increased because now you have more hardware to take care of, but the software part increases less than linearly.

A unix shop could use MS Windows, but why they would escapes me!

James Rich

It's not the software that's free; it's you.
        - billyskank on Groklaw