RE: Why is the iSeries so slow

> From: Brad Jensen
> >
> > As to SQL Server, have you tried running a hundred users on a
> > hundred million record database on it?
> 
> Well, actually most users don't have those constraints.

Who do you consider a user?  Dottie's Flower Shop?  Or the local flower
distributor?  Dottie's can use Microsoft, but the distributor is going
to need something a little more powerful.


> While I haven't tried that performance load, there are commercial
> web servers that are doing that and more.
> SQL Server has really grown up in the last few years. Of
> course, you can put in on a multiprocessor PC server with 20
> GB of RAM, a couple of hundred GB of disk. And get some rather
> nice performance from it. It think you can share the database
> load thru multiple servers, also, but don't quote me on that.
> 
> Web applications can be written on Windows to run on server farms.
> Add another blade server and increase your capacity. Relative cheap,
> and very small footprint.

These are AWFULLY glib statements.  Exactly how many businesses do you
personally know running their mission critical systems on Windows server
farms?  And if by chance you do know of one, how much do they spend on:

1. Performance tuning
2. System administration
3. Backup and redundancy

This is NOT a cheap solution, except for the initial price, which is
what everybody seems to be using as the standard.  I just watched a
simple bulletin board pony up for $1100 worth of hardware simply to keep
up with demand.  Cheap?  Not for the work it's doing.  All it's doing is
keeping track of text messages, fer gosh sakes!  I'd hate to see how
much a real transaction server would cost.


> For the user the consultant was speaking of, the issue is the speed
> of the database, while available to that user to manipulate.
> 
> It's the latter half of the equation that is important to most people
> now days.

This is pure unadulterated crap.  The reason the users need to
manipulate their data is because we the programmers can't be bothered to
do it.  We've all gotten fat and lazy and told the users to use SQL and
leave us alone.  And boy are we sowing what we reap.  And then we
complain about how there's no business!  And what kills me is that some
of the biggest complainers are the ones who want a pushbutton WYSIWYG
interface to develop applications without having to actually WRITE ANY
CODE.

Man, once it gets that easy, programmers provide no value add.  And if
users are willing to live with bloated, unsecured applications just
because we're too lazy to write killer applications, then we deserve
exactly what we're getting.

This ain't about the box, folks, it's about whether you as a consultant
provide any added value to your customers.  If they can build SQL
applications as good as what you can provide using a real HLL, then
maybe it's just evolution in action.

Joe