Re: BPCS 6.1mm performance and the AS/400 -- BPCS-L

Rosalie,
Thank you for your reply.  I am posting this back to the list for general
information.

I am sorry to hear that you had such an experience with the sizing of your
V6.0.04 system.  Early versions of the V6.0.04 tool were not as accurate as the
later versions.  The actual exercise does take a long time, and quite often the
longer it takes the better the results.  There is a lot of information needed to
ensure a good sizing, and the end result is only as good as the information put
in.

Our sizing tool is one of the few that actually sizes using specific transaction
data rather than just numbers of users.  It also reflects the peak hour of the
business day.  Incorrect or inaccurate data in either of these areas can result
in a wrongly sized AS/400.  Even on AS/400's that have been sized correctly it
is very important to tune the machine to your own business environment.  Not
only does this mean the Work Management Environment, but also the database.

This discussion thread was referring directly to V6.1 which I am pleased to say
is a much better tool.  SSA and IBM worked together to create this tool and
methodology, which to date has provided satisfactory sizing estimates.

More information can be found in Chapter 5 of the SSA/IBM Redbook "Implementing
SSA's eBPCS on the AS/400"  ( SG24-5410-00) discussing the Sizing Methodology .

Regards,
Peter






Rosalie@omnia.co.za on 02/22/2000 12:48:09 AM

To:   Peter Greenfield/SSA/US@SSA
cc:
Subject:  Re: BPCS 6.1mm performance and the AS/400



We are on 6.04 and the sizing was done by an SSA consultant.  The whole
sizing exercise took up a lot of time with unacceptable results.






pgreenfi@ssax.com on 16/02/2000 06:05:19 PM

Please respond to BPCS-L@midrange.com

To:   BPCS-L@midrange.com
cc:    (bcc: Rosalie Ducasse/ITS/Omnia Group)

Subject:  Re: BPCS 6.1mm performance and the AS/400




Hi Rosalie,

I read your reply regarding the Sizing process with some surprise.  The
sizing
for V6.1 has been very successful to date.  SSA and IBM have spent a lot of
time
and resource making it so.  I wonder if you are referring to a previous
version
of the sizing process.

I am interested to hear who did your sizing and why it was not considered
to be
correct.  It also disturbs me to hear that most of your user group has
experienced the same problems.

If there is a problem with the V6.1 we need to know so that it can be
addressed,
but as I have said, it has been very successful to date.

Please e-mail me directly with any issues or concerns that you may have.

Regards
Peter

SSA AS/400 Product Manager





Rosalie@omnia.co.za on 02/16/2000 12:04:05 AM

Please respond to BPCS-L@midrange.com

To:   BPCS-L@midrange.com
cc:    (bcc: Peter Greenfield/SSA/US)
Subject:  Re: BPCS 6.1mm performance and the AS/400



We did the sizing according to the BPCS sizing guide and it was a total
waste of time.  Just about everyone in our user group who did the exercise
also said it was a waste of time and that generally you have to double or
triple the processing requirements that you think you might need.  Most of
the performance issues are just poor programming/design principles (or lack
thereof) e.g., a single spool file for each invoice - this is ridiculous
and if any programmer working for me did this I would get rid of them very
quickly!





"Genyphyr Novak" <novakg@ssax.com> on 15/02/2000 07:30:28 PM

Please respond to BPCS-L@midrange.com

To:   BPCS-L@midrange.com
cc:    (bcc: Rosalie Ducasse/ITS/Omnia Group)

Subject:  Re: BPCS 6.1mm performance and the AS/400




Hi Sandy,

Simply comparing what other companies have to what you have is often not
enough, as you are not taking into account the myriad of different ways to
use and set up BPCS, and the varied performance requirements that each mode
of BPCS (C/S or MM), which applications you use most heavily and business
needs set up requires. The BPCS sizing guide (developed by SSA and IBM)
takes all of this into account.

Random sampling of other system processers used by other companies on a
mailing list is likely not the best way to research this topic, as
performance is very complex and site/useage-specific. If you are asking
about this here, just to get a few 'warm fuzzies' to know you are not way
off-base about your pending decision, and not as a primary research tool,
then that would be a wise approach to take.

It is not surprising that System/36 BPCS ran fine on a smaller box and
6.1.00 does not, as they are extremely different releases. I am sure you
have looked at all the many many Net Change documents between those
releases. Quite a few new features have been added as well as many new
products and files (and thus the additional processor overhead to keep
track
of all the new functionality).

Thanks

Genyphyr Novak
SSA

-----Original Message-----
From: Forwiw@aol.com <Forwiw@aol.com>
To: BPCS-L@midrange.com <BPCS-L@midrange.com>
Date: Saturday, February 12, 2000 7:20 PM
Subject: Re: BPCS 6.1mm performance and the AS/400


>
>    We had an OLD version of BPCS 4.4B running as a System/36 guest on
>    our AS/400.  We had no problem with the older version,  it's just
>    when we went to BPCS 6.1 mm we noticed the performance hit.
>
>    What model AS/400 do you have?
>
>    Thanks for responding.
>    Sandy
>
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