Re: Offload from the AS/400

> Don't you just love this?  There is a complete fallacy in the MIS exec's
> position by
> saying I don't way to spend money on upgrading the AS/400 but will spend
> money
> to save CPU cycles by offloading the code.  That position is self defeating
> - as I'm
> sure you are aware of.
>
> 1.)Given that there are no application enhancements - why would someone
> want to
> spend money on software as opposed to processing power?  Given the choice,
> the
> logical decision is to get the processing power.
>

Logic!  Too bad everyone isn't born with that, like a belly button.

> 2.) Given that there are application enhancements - is the risk involved in
> going from
> a stable application environment to the unknown worth it?  I don't know
> about you
> but hardware upgrades (except for the occasional CISC to RISC) are pretty
> darn
> stable and easy to predict when they will be complete.
>

Yes.  My point exactly!

> 3.) Any precise measurements on what CPU cycles will be offloaded?  My
> guess is that
> no one including your PC software company can estimate that.  What if the
> guestimate
> is inaccurate?  Is the risk and the dollars worth spending to find out?
>

No.  Excellent question.  Cutting and pasting that one to my memo....

> 4.) Are all costs being reviewed?  My guess is that you will see soft and
> hidden costs
> go up that are not even being included.  Look for changes in the PC
> environment....
> run time code, change control, hardware upgrades, PC's vs. terminals, etc.
>

Cut & Paste

> 5.) Another risk is possibly the split of application logic.  Depending on
> how the application
> is broken up may make maintenance tough.  If I make this change here what
> will happen
> there?  If the design is to use the AS/400 as a database server your risk
> is minimized.
>

Agreed.  The simple most important point is what is to be gained by splitting 
the
app?  Faster execution?  Maybe.At what cost though?

> 6.) Given that a PC LAN environment is inherently less stable than a
> terminal green screen
> environment how will database integrity be maintained?
>

Oh, come on.  PC Lan's work great.  The same Novell/Powerbuilder developer that 
I
am working with/againstasked me how long our clients' AS/400's stay up.  He told
me that his Novell server had 96 days straight without a
reboot.  That seems pretty good to me, for a LAN.  I told him that the AS/400
that we were standing next to has never
IPL'd.


> 7.) Powerbuilder?  People still write in Powerbuilder?  :-)
>

Heh, Heh.  It seems very slow.  They have a main menu, and TABbing from one
selection to the other is slow.

> 8.) Despite writing the above - you could join them.......If you want an
> easy way to start
> writing C/S code I would take a long hard look at Magic/400.  It is a
> wonderfully robust
> and fairly easy to learn development environment.  I don't use the product
> but have
> demo'd it....it seems pretty neat.  Looking at it I don't know if I would
> ever write mainline
> C/S applications in Powerbuilder, VB, VRPG, etc.  Now, I am not a C/S
> developer by any
> stretch but I do use the above products.
>

I've demoed OBSYDIAN.  This looks really neat, and it develops apps for AS/400
green,
AS/400 C/S GUI Front end, HP, Unix, NT, and I think JAVA now.

--
Art Tostaine, Jr.
Creative Computer Associates, Inc.
Parlin, NJ
atostaine_at_crecomp_dot_com


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