RE: DIMM in model 170 -- MIDRANGE-L

It's NOT the same memory that is in commodity desktop PC's.  It has Error 
Detecting & Correcting logic built into it so that if there is a bit-level 
error in the memory, it detects it & still supplies the correct response.

I once knew the details of these "grey codes" that did this ... It is 
similar in concept to the Raid-5 protection for disk drives.  My Thinkpad 
w/NT occasionally gets these single-bit errors & it kills the application 
(under Win95, it gave the blue screen of death).

If you buy a "high-end" PC server, you MIGHT find similar memory 
cards.  These cards will cost about the same $$$ as those in your AS/400 
though.

You will be MUCH better off just installing the IBM memory ... we recently 
installed a model 270 iSeries w/ 2gb of RAM and I seem to remember that the 
memory upgrade cost about two grand more.  I'm willing to pay that much to 
get a LOT of memory (the cheapest way to goose AS/400 performance) that 
always works.  Whenever you install a third party product, you are setting 
yourself up for trouble ... for $2K, it's just not worth it!

John Myers
IBM Certified Specialist - AS/400 Technical Solutions
IBM Certified Specialist - Advisor for e-Business
Strategic Business Systems, Inc.
17 S. Franklin Turnpike, Ramsey, NJ 07446  USA
E-mail: mailto:jmyers@sbsusa.com   Phone: +1 (201) EASY 400   x131
Web:    http://www.sbsusa.com      Fax:   +1 (201) 327-6984

Free Sports League Management - Powered by AS/400
      http://www.ScoreBook.com

Get and route intelligence from your IBM AS/400 web site - WebSurvey/400
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At 11:07 AM 1/3/01, you wrote:
>I asked this question during a presentation at Common in Germany.  Of the
>several dozen people in the room, no one had the guts to test the theory.
>
>My guess is that they are somehow different.  Since 256MB for my 170 cost me
>over $2k and the same memory at the time for my PC would have cost me about
>$300, I sure HOPE there's a reason.
>
>But..  would you test your $2K memory in your PC and risk frying it?  Or,
>would you risk your $20K 170 with PC memory.  Worse - would you trust
>running your nice stable 170 with cheap PC memory?
>
>I'd be curious of anyone knows for sure...
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
>[mailto:owner-midrange-l@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Maarten Vries, de
>Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2001 4:05 PM
>To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
>Subject: DIMM in model 170
>
>Hi
>
>I am new to this list.
>I want to upgrade my model 170 with some extra memory.
>I have seen from the system handbook that the model 170 contains DIMM
>modules. Are these the same modules you put in your PC or is it special
>memory?
>
>Maarten

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