Re: 9406 515 vs 8203 E4A

The StronBox is not external storage for IBM i *SYSBAS or iASP but is in the category of near line storage using a file system that is different, LTFS. What the original thread was about was to see if items that are not supported by IBM and in fact not configurable with that model of system will in fact work, (I suspect they will actually) and the StrongBox, SPHiNX, and any other Tape library are not in that category. They are supported external devices, albeit not by IBM.

Recently IBM started offering the V3700 Fibre attached storage. That external storage is not only supported but encouraged on a 4 way 720, so if you need more storage on your P05 box, a pair of Fibre cards, the V3700 and you can get a very large system from a storage perspective.

Jim Oberholtzer
Chief Technical Architect
Agile Technology Architects


On 4/17/2013 10:42 AM, Nathan Andelin wrote:

Since that configuration would also violate the Terms and Conditions of
> your software agreements and maintenance contracts ...

Jim, do you have a reference for that? What specific terms might you be referring to? Why would configuring an external storage device as it's own IASP be a violation of agreements?

Are you concerned about the "legality" of connecting an external storage device to the server's SAS port? If that were the case, then why would you suggest in an earlier thread that Eric Lehti check out the StrongBox external storage unit from CrossRoads Systems, which uses a SAS port, and NSF for communication?

If IBM i on Power supports industry standard interfaces such as SAS, NFS, PCIe, etc., then what might be the problem with using them?

Why would it be okay to use a non-IBM external storage device under one scenario, but be a violation of terms to use an IBM external storage unit in another?

-Nathan.

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