V4R5 UPGRADE questions - 2nd try -- MIDRANGE-L

Surely, some of you have BTDT (Been There, Done That)?

I had posted this last Thursday evening, but have yet to see any response.
Someone I contacted privately suggested that everyone was too enamored in the
"NT -vs- AS/400" thread.  Now that that thread appears to be dying down <g>, I
am hoping that I can get your attention.

TIA!

- Dan
Dan Bale says "BAN DALE!"
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 --------------------------
(Whenever possible, please provide online references that I can refer to.
Thanks!)

I have been asked to provide a plan to upgrade our RISC boxes to V4R5.  Four
of our boxes are at V3R7 and I realize there is a charge involved to jump to
V4 (and I have this information so I am *not* asking for this from the group).
 I also have one box at V4R4 and one at V4R3; both are on software
subscription.  Does IBM charge anything to provide the upgrade materials, aka
"media charges", shipping/handling, etc.?  Once ordered, how long does it take
to arrive at my location?

Can I safely assume that upgrading from V4R3 to V4R5 is a one-step, painless
process?

Not counting the time for backups, how long should I plan for installing these
upgrades and the latest cume and group PTFs?  How many IPLs?  FWIW: The V4R3
box is a 9404 model 400 with 128MB of memory.  The V4R4 box is also a 9404
model 400 but with 224MB of memory.  The V4R4 box is also a little short on
the available DASD, although I hope to have that rectified shortly.  Even so,
I need to know how much more DASD is required for the upgrade installation
process, and how much more DASD will be taken once the upgrade is completed.
A colleague also suggested that newer OS levels may require more memory to
keep the same level of performance; I have never heard of this issue raised
with the AS/400.

NOW, consider the following separately from the above:

Management also wants me to plan to upgrade the four V3R7 boxes to V4R5.
Because I believe the total costs involved to upgrade these machines will come
close to (and probably exceed) the cost of replacing the boxes outright with
lower processing tiered iSeries boxes (like a P30 to a P10 drop!), I doubt
that this will come to pass.  However, management is demanding that I at least
provide the plan.  Soooooooooo...

Should I plan on making the two-step upgrade (V3R7 to V4R2? and then V4R2? to
V4R5) on separate weekends?  I should add that one box is a four-hour drive
away, and the other is a flight from Michigan to Nevada, so it would be *nice*
to be able to minimize the travel if possible, but I can't afford for the
system to be unavailable Monday morning.  I'd probably do a SAVSTG before
doing the V4R2? to V4R5 upgrade, if only so I could restore the box if I ran
out of time in the middle of the V4R2? to V4R5 upgrade.

Like the two V4 boxes mentioned earlier, I need to know how much more DASD is
required for each step in the upgrade installation process, and how much more
DASD will be taken once the upgrade is completed.

Are there other considerations that I haven't raised?

TIA!

- Dan
Dan Bale says "BAN DALE!"
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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