Re: Remote Management -- MIDRANGE-L

Well, I don't know how remote *your* "remote" is <g>, but I'm dealing with 5
remote AS/400s, the closest of which is 300+ miles away, two of which are on
this continent outside of the U.S., and one in England.  It is not realistic
for me *not* to consider remote management.  I just have to research this one
diligently and rely on the experience that the good people on this list bring
to the table.  I think I will have the financial backing to do this right.

Here's what I *think* I need remote management for:  restricted state system
backups (SAVE 21), cume PTF load/apply, other system maintenance functions
requiring restricted state.  I do NOT plan on doing release upgrades remotely;
in my mind that's just too big a risk for failure.

Yes, anything in "multitples" brings a whole 'nuther aspect to remote
management.  I'd have to have someone on site whose only responsibility would
be to change CD's.  QUESTION: Can I ask IBM to provide the cume PTF package on
3590 cartridges?  Hopefully, it would all fit on one 10GB cartridge, but even
if it didn't, I've got a 10-slot magazine in one of my branches.

It's been several years since I've done cume PTF's; can the loading of all the
CD's be done while the system is still in use?  The idea behind that is to
have someone local start loading the CD's so that everything's loaded before
they leave for the day.  After the branch ceases operations for the day, do
the backups, and apply the cume.  Is that possible?

Dan Bale
IT - AS/400
Handleman Company
248-362-4400  Ext. 4952
D.Bale@Handleman.com
  Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
  (Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.)

-------------------------- Original Message --------------------------

Dan

I'm in a similar boat to you, in that I have a number of machines I manage
remotely.

The one thing that has always bought my thoughts on remote management and
Ops Console to a standstill is that the jobs I really want good remote
access for have to be done on site.

Changing tapes, of course, but that kinda goes without saying and I can
monitor that stuff fairly easily.

But loading licensed programs, installing new versions or Cumulative
CD's... ANYTHING that needs access to the CD drive is a royal PITA.

Why can I share my AS/400 CD drive to the Windows network but not to
another AS/400 on the network ?

Without this capability, I always kind of give up on the remote management
thing as in my own mind I just can't quite get enough functionality out of
it to justify setting it up. If I could do this I would get Ops Console up
and running in a flash. Well start the process in a flash at least <g>

Has anyone solved this particular problem or have I just totally missed the
boat on something obvious ?

regards
Evan Harris

>Yes, I thought I've heard Al bash it, too.  I found a reference in the
>archives where he is quoted as saying "Ops Console doesn't work well".  I
>forgot to note how old that post was.  Perhaps Ops Console has matured by
 now?
>
>As a company with AS/400s in five very remote locations, three of which have
>no operations staff (save for someone who changes the backup tapes daily), we
>need to get to the point where we can have the most possible absolute control
>of these systems from our HQ location.  The best scenario is where I can have
>system console access as well as system panel access from my desktop.
<SNIP>
>Dan Bale
>IT - AS/400
>Handleman Company
>248-362-4400  Ext. 4952
>D.Bale@Handleman.com
>   Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
>   (Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.)
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