Re: Using an AS/400 for a high volume on line store

["Nathan M. Andelin" <nandelin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: Rob Phillips <niceguy420l@xxxxxxxxx>
> I just want to know if an AS/400 and which one could
> be their hardware and what software or utilities would
> be needed, and would the price be much lower than
> 250K?

Rob,

It's hard to estimate hardware requirements based on items and orders,
alone.  A small model 810 could probably insert 10,000 orders into a
database and provide an HTML response to the user in less than one minute of
CPU time.  It would help to know the maximum number of database inquiry
requests, the number of static and dynamically generated HTML pages, served
in say one hour, in order to estimate hardware requirements.

The biggest cost in an on-line store, however, is usually related to labor.
If you buy packaged store-front software, you probably still need to
customize the user interface.  The store-front also needs to integrate
seamlessly with financial accounting, inventory, and fulfillment systems.
That usually leads to system integration services.  Otherwise, the real cost
accumulates over several years as errors and misunderstandings lead to fewer
sales, and increased customer support requirements.

In my opinion, the iSeries is the best platform to support business
applications, especially Web applications.

Nathan M. Andelin
www.relational-data.com