As somebody who supports this boxes I can tell you that:
Do you ever plan on putting any fixes on the production machine? - Once you
are at the last servicing level, a point fix is not something that will
halt production, I've seen very few point fixes being released after the
branch stops being developed it's a bit akin to expecting fixes for v5r4
(it is THAT far from the current branch, it gets fixes only because the
machines are still supported)
Do you ever plan on putting on any OS upgrades on the production machine? -
You don't care, OS support is baked into the OS for IBM i, included in the
latest versions of Windows Server and free to download SDDDSM for the older
versions, and the level required on the box is either compatible or you
can't upgrade to that one because it will most likely not require 8.2.1.17
when you got up to 8.2.1.16
Do you ever plan on putting in any new cards on the production machine? -
The prod machine doesn't care about the storage and the storage won't get
new cards this late in life
Do you ever plan on putting any hardware upgrades on the production
machine? - Idem and disks can be added without issue because you are at the
last possible branch
If hardware gives you a new card to fix the storwise but it's downlevel and
there are issues will you be able to get the uplevel code? - Flashsystem
controllers either flash themselves from the working pair or you can go
into the /service tab and force it (and it is a good practice to have a
backup of the currently running levels saved somewhere)
If IBM issues a CVE saying that the Storwise is susceptible to some hack do
you give a rip? - This is the only real worry and it can be solved by air
gapping/ACL'ing the admin interfaces if needed (nobody does this, I know)
but most security issues haven't been about allowing somebody access to
delete data.
Now, as a BP (but not in the US geo, so I've no horse in this race) I would
recommend what I already did, if you can save a bit by forgoing the SWMA
and use that towards a new box and you understand the risks? do it. Don't
run production without HWMA, but it's not like dropping SWMA on the i which
is a bigger issue.
Roberto
On Wed, 11 Oct 2023 at 14:17, Rob Berendt <robertowenberendt@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Do you ever plan on putting any fixes on the production machine?
Do you ever plan on putting on any OS upgrades on the production machine?
Do you ever plan on putting in any new cards on the production machine?
Do you ever plan on putting any hardware upgrades on the production
machine?
If hardware gives you a new card to fix the storwise but it's downlevel and
there are issues will you be able to get the uplevel code?
If IBM issues a CVE saying that the Storwise is susceptible to some hack do
you give a rip?
Have I cast enough FUD?
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