RE: WebSphere on NT vs. AS/400

> From: Mark Phippard
>
> While I personally prefer to run WebSpere on an AS/400 because I think it
> is easier to manage it, running it on a Windows 2000 or Linux server
> yields excellent performance.  I guess if you had a slow or congested
> network that might not be the case, but generally I think you get great
> results from the Toolbox JDBC driver.

Some real numbers using WebSphere 3.5.5 Standard Edition on a little model
270 (with 370CPW):

1. Stopping a web application takes 3-5 seconds
2. Starting a web application takes 10-25 seconds
3. Ending QEJBSBS takes 15 seconds
4. Starting QEJBSBS takes 70 seconds

Given the fact that the AS/400 is so stable, and that WebSphere runs so fast
and so reliably on the AS/400, it's difficult for me to justify an NT or
Linux front end.  The tradeoff is usually security vs. performance; if you
have any sort of non-trivial application, adding the overhead of all the
TCP/IP traffic between the two boxes could be immense.  So unless you have a
requirement of having your Web application server in the demilitarized zone
of your network, I wouldn't advise breaking out the server.

I don't know if Mark has done any real performance testing, but I don't
think you're going to get the same 50 millisecond response time that I get
on my model 270 if you have to go through an NT box and then call a program
on the AS/400.  That's my opinion, but it seems to make a lot of common
sense.

Joe