RE: AS400 Performance

Rick:

What is the 'processor group' of your machine?  You can get this information
using command WRKLICINF.

The processor group is usually what the price tiers are based on.  The S20
spans P05, P10 and P20.   These days, when you 'upgrade' to a new machine,
it's common to end up in a lower processor group with a much faster machine.
The company I used to work for recently replaced their model 500 (a P20 box)
with a model 720 (a P10 box).  The new P10 absolutely runs circles around
the old P20 box.  So, before you conclude that you'd owe Mapics a pile of
dough, do some configuring first.  You may find that you save money, even on
monthly maintenance and your software subscription to IBM.

You're on an Sxx machine.   I'm not familiar with them, but aren't they
tuned for client/server?  Are you sure that an S machine is the right
choice?  I think the rules have changed there, too.  Maybe a nice lower-end
720 box would be a screamer for you.

The other thing you can look into is purging and archiving your old data.
You are obviously lugging around a lot more data since 4 years ago.  If you
were to archive some of that, your machine would obviously speed up.  You
may find resistance in the user community to 'getting rid' of data.  There's
always someone that wants to see 20 years of history on a quarterly report.
So you end up buying a new box.  It's often possible to archive 18 of the 20
years to another library on disk and relatively easily make all 20 years
(live and archive) data visible to _just_ the quarterly report.  So, the
customer service people on the phone get quick response, and the VP of Sales
sees 20 years history on the report.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Go... FASTER!  Without an upgrade!  With ARCTOOLS/400(tm)
http://www.arctools.com
info@arctools.com
DCSoftware, Inc.
Ph: (508) 435-8243
Fax: (508) 435-4498
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



 -----Original Message-----
From:   mapics-l-admin@midrange.com [mailto:mapics-l-admin@midrange.com]  On
Behalf Of Rick Henson
Sent:   Wednesday, February 13, 2002 3:58 AM
To:     mapics-l@midrange.com
Subject:        AS400 Performance

We are running MAPICS Version 4 on an S20 AS400.  When running reports the
machine is so slow it even stops people logging on.  This is getting to be
more than an irritation, it is now stopping people from doing their work.
We
have run the performance tools and an independent party suggested changing
some system settings in the way Batch and Interactive jobs are handled.
Quite frankly it made no difference at all.  The AS400 is about 4 years old,
it has done an excellent job.  Now I am told we could need a new AS400.  I
appreciate hardware has moved on a lot in 4 years.  Yesterday I was informed
if we do get a newer model AS400, MAPICS may charge more, because the annual
fee is dependent on what model AS400 it is runningon, i.e the faster the box
the more I pay.  As this was originally sorted out by Head Office Staff, who
were made redundant some time ago, I am trying to pick up the pieces.

Does anyone know what exactly MAPICS Pricing Policy is?  Is it related to
the speed of the processor/As400?  And is anyone else suffering with poor
performance?  Is it a simple matter of extra memory or whatever in the
AS400?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Rick Henson
John L Seaton & Co Ltd,
Hull,
Yorkshire
United Kingdom

e-mail:  rick.henson@seatons-uk.co.uk