RE: Re: WebSphere express minimum requirements -- WEB400

> From: Mark Villa
> 
> I think in some high office at IBM they had a decision to make one
day.
> To expand /integrate these non native loads into processor design or
omit
> them and just sell bigger hardware.
> Now we are living that decision.
> Awesome performance in every native area then make the flagship
product
> crippleware for those not buying into the "new car" syndrome. I think
many
> good customers have missed the WebSphere boat because of this.

Mark, I don't agree entirely.  Here's why:

Java is almost by definition a completely different workload than
traditional business applications.  While RPG programs spend a large
portion of their life waiting on I/O, Java-based programs are intensely
CPU-bound (and highly memory hungry).

These workloads are completely different.  One needs to be tuned for
fast task swapping and lots of independent I/O processing, while the
other needs RAM and CPU cycles.  It's all but impossible to tune a
single CPU for this.  I know for a fact that any PC tuned for web
application serving is never going to be able to ALSO handle 1000
simultaneous order entry clerks.  The fact that IBM manages to get the
two to work at ALL in the same box is nothing short of a miracle to me.

So you have two options.  The first is the one IBM wants you to pursue:
MORE HARDWARE!  Of course!  And as they crank up the CPU speed and add
memory, the iSeries (or whatever it is this week) becomes capable of
handling the load.  I'm just guessing here, but an LPARed machine might
be even better suited for that sort of mixed environment.

However, if you don't want to upgrade your primary machine to support
the additional load of Java-based web serving (an upgrade which can be a
significant cost!), then you still have the option of offloading your
box in three ways: Tomcat running on your iSeries, WebSphere running on
a PC, or Tomcat running on a PC.

Pros and cons?  Option 1 is free, but Tomcat doesn't scale as well as
WebSphere especially on the iSeries and if you start with an
underpowered machine, ANY web server is going to perform poorly.  The
second option is a little pricey, with a separate box (<$1000) and
WebSphere ($2500), but it has the advantage of IBM support.  The third
option is a middle ground solution, costing only the price of the box (a
Unix machine can be built for well under $1000) but with no IBM support.

Please note that the offloading solutions, 2 and 3, both require a
high-speed Ethernet connection between the PC and the iSeries.
Depending on your load, you could be looking at a 1GB Ethernet line, and
that's not cheap.

But my point here is that there are alternate solutions.  Slapping
WebSphere on top of a slightly creaking but still serviceable iSeries is
not the only answer.  And anything you do for Tomcat will be able to be
transferred to WebSphere if and when it makes business sense for you to
upgrade.

Joe