RE: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch

[rob@xxxxxxxxx]

I agree that the disk is terribly overpriced.  I have an urgent project to 
archive Domino email to a cluster of two Domino servers on Windows and 
Linux.  The i5 disk is getting way too expensive.  Especially when one of 
your Domino cluster boxes is a 270-DSD that has the maximum number of 
drives, and the largest drives, supported on it with the maximum expansion 
supported on it.
What will happen to that 270 in the long term?  Well, since V5R4 is the 
last version supported on it and we won't be running anything as old as 
V5R4 a year after it's follow on is available it will be going out the 
door.

Serious storage condition may exist. Press HELP.
Serious storage condition may exist. Press HELP.
Serious storage condition may exist. Press HELP.
Serious storage condition may exist. Press HELP.

When my boss starts migrating stuff off to less expensive hardware you 
better believe that's something.

Reliability?  Kinda iffy on that.  Lots more problems lately.  Could be 
any number of things:
- Getting the box to do more and more things increases complexity
- Newbie dweeb programmers don't give a rip about quality
- Crud being ported from other systems and stuffed into PASE and being 
labled "native" when it is even less native than S/36 environment.  We 
don't expect Linux or PC-XT to run CICS or i5 based RPG applications, why 
should we think that wedging it in is a good idea?  They rewrote Domino 
for the i5 and it kicks a$$.  If they had to do it over again they 
probably would have done it in PASE and it would suck swamp water.

Support?  Just try getting support from IBM on why Linux running on a lpar 
on a 570, that uses an IBM SAN switch to communicate to an IBM tape drive 
reconfigs the tape drives after every IPL and you have to manually 
reconfig the buggers in TSM.  Have full maintenance on 570.  Have 
maintenance on SAN switch, have maintenance on 3582 (and you do NEED 
that).  Now IBM wants an additional $10,000 for SAN support.  Just for 
this simple set up!!!???
Radar O'Reilly:  "I don't think what he said is physically possible."
Hawkeye:  "You're right - he does have a lot to learn about anatomy."


Rob Berendt