Re: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch

John,

I was looking more at the 520 as an alternative to adding a processor on the
570 and thinking there was some other value you saw in running WAS under
i5/OS on a System i rather than under Windows on a PC Server. Going the 520
route would give you a comparable increase in total CPW as adding
one processor with i5/OS to the 570 but at a discount of about 30%. If you
have all the other TCO and software licensing issues covered equally well
under both of your scenarios and there is no need for the value that i5/OS
brings then I totally agree that the PC Server solution is going to give you
the best bang for the buck. Being just a web server is not the sandbox the
System i plays in and although you can do it there's not much reason to;
the old "right tool for the job" cliche fits well here.

If you're interested, you can find some websphere on i5 performance data at
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r4/topic/rzahx/sc410607.pdf
<http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r4/topic/rzahx/sc410607.pdf>.
Chapter 6 deals with websphere and page 93 speaks to the performance of the
turbo feature on the 520s.

Kind regards,

BJ


On 12/13/06, Jones, John (US) <John.Jones@xxxxxxxxxx > wrote:

Brian - Possibly, and I admit we haven't tried to price that scenario,
but the numbers say a consolidated box will need 24-30K CPW and that's
potentially several 520s.

What we need is an inexpensive but fast engine for WebSphere App Server.
Please withhold the oxymoron comments.  What will run WAS fast & cheap?

1 big 570? Yes and No.
1-3 Windows servers + a moderate (existing) 570? Yes and Yes.
1 moderate 570 + 2-4 520 Express machines? Yes and Maybe.

Here's what we're up against: A Dell PowerEdge 2950 with dual Quad-core
Xeons w/2MB cache per core (Quad core is really 2 dual-cores lashed
together and each dual-core has 4MB cache), 16GB RAM, Windows Server
2003 Enterprise, mirrored 73GB disks, and a 3-year gold warranty has a
list of just over $14K.  Probably closer to $12K after our discount.
That's around $1500 per core for a complete server with tons of CPU
capacity, adequate disk, RAM, OS license, and a warranty.  RAM may be a
little shy, I'm not sure, and the 32GB RAM feature is quite pricey, so
I'd add a second server instead of upping to 32GB RAM.  That would also
provides some redundancy.  So for under $25K I'd have 16 cores, 32GB
RAM, and all the trimmings.  Can the iSeries compete with that?  Because
like it or not, iSeries iNtegration advantages or not, like the platform
or not, this is what it boils down to.

(What might count under other circumstances but doesn't this time
around: WebSphere App Server license - we have unlimited.  Server
Administration costs - mostly a wash across scenarios.  Data center
impact - another wash as 2 of the Dells take just as much resource as
the additional CEC in a 4/8-way or 1 extra 520.)

John A. Jones, CISSP
Americas Information Security Officer
Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.
V: +1-630-455-2787 F: +1-312-601-1782
john.jones@xxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Brian
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 10:41 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch

John,

Since adding windows boxes throws away having a "consolidated-server",
would adding one of the express 520s with the turbo feature turned on be
a possibility? This would give you a 3800 CPW box with only a P10
pricing level for the software. Also, if you purchased the DASD and
possibly the RAM for this 520 on the used market, you might be able to
put together a nice box for a lot less than adding to the 570. I think
it would be easier to administer multiple i5s than multiple windows
boxes.

Just a thought.

Kind regards,

BJ