Re: EMC DASD (wasCISC to RISC conversion of data)

At 07:19 PM 4/8/98 -0400, you wrote:
>
Dave,

I hate to re-disagree with your disagreement with me, but we've disagreed
before, so here goes:

EMC has been a client of mine, (as IBM is a current client-and many other
third parties are or have been).

Names have been changed to protect the guilty.  (God protects the innocent,
they don't need my help.)

Problem:

I had a client with ABC DASD running system checksum (many years ago).
When the DASD failed, it failed to notify the system, so the failing DASD
spewed crap all over the checksum set.  

Solution:

ABC DASD failed to work with system checksum.  Client had to do a re-load.
Because the another third party tape drive (XYZ) failed, the reload took
three days.

Problem:

I had a client with ABC memory running on a B70 and XYZ DASD.  Somebody
red-switched the system.  Blew out the memory and the load source!

IBM, ABC and XYZ pointed fingers at each other for 14 days (while the
client was effectively out of business).  After 14 days of going no-where,
client ordered me to find a hot-site.  I said, "You can't, a hot site will
cost you a million dollars to sign a contract during a disaster."  Client
said, do it anyway.

IBM, ABC and XYZ pointed fingers at each other for another 41 days!!!!!

I finally asked Rochester to loan me 192 MB of B70 memory (expensive in
those days) which they did.  This eliminated the memory problem, and the
client and the DASD vendor solved the problem within two days.  Another day
and a half for the memory problem.  IBM (very gracious) got it's memory back.

Hot site charged the customer $650,000 to run for 40 days. (*RAPE).

Customer ordered all new, all blue, hardware the day after they went back
into business.  About $450,000.

Look how much money they saved with third party equipment!

If you want stories, just write. They go on and on...

Note that any similarity in this story to any particular vendor are purely
coincidental . No confidentially agreements have been breached here.

Al


>Al Barsa, Jr. wrote:
>
>> At 11:05 AM 4/8/98 -0400, you wrote:
>> >Neil:
>> >
>> >Neil Palmer wrote:
>> >
>> >> So, IMHO, the reason 3rd party disk is cheaper, is because IT'S NO
>> BLOODY GOOD
>> >> !!!!
>> >
>> >I hate to disagree with this statement.  But the truth is EMC DASD is
as good
>> >as.  They have grabbed a huge market share and growing by leaps and
>> bounds.  The
>> >customers are all not that stupid, right?  I have used their DASD without
>> >trouble.  OTOH, 3 of my 9332-600 failed.   Everybody of course knows the
>> >fantastic unreliability of 9335.   Blanket statements like this only cause
>> >misunderstanding.  I believe all DASD manufacturers try their best.   I do
>> >believe that mirroring now is the best choice considering the price of
>> DASD in
>> >general to avoid disk crashes (been there done that).
>> >
>> I agree with Neil, and disagree with Dave.
>>
>> The AS/400 is an integrated system, and buying everything from one vendor
>> means that you have one person to contact when you have a failure.
>>
>> EMC has significantly de-emphasized the midrange marketplace.
>>
>> Here's a good test.  Find out the street price to buy a new IBM DASD unit
>> (like a 9337), and a comparable third party unit (EMC, IPL, who else).
>> Then have another company call around (so that the 'buyer' and 'seller' are
>> not associated) to see how much you could re-sell the new-unused unit for.
>>
>> You'd be amazed at the difference in value.
>>
>
>Unfortunately Al, most users dont buy to resell unless you are an IR or
BP.  It is
>true that the resale market for non-IBM product is thin.  But that should not
>preclude your judgment in buying non-IBM equipment.  Unfortunately, IBM
created a
>high priced market place and users have to find a method to get the job
done at a
>reasonable price.  Now, you are going to tell me "you get what you pay
for", but
>the truth is price is not always the best reliability & durability indicator.
>Price, service, quality all play an important role in selection.  Just my
2 cents.
>
>
>
>--
>Thank You.
>
>Regards
>
>Dave Mahadevan.. mailto:mahadevan@fuse.net
>
>
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>
>

Al Barsa, Jr. - Account for Midrange-L
Barsa Consulting, LLC.  
400 > 390

Phone:  914-251-9400
Fax:    914-251-9406





Private mail should be sent to barsa@ibm.net
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