New 270.

[Matthias Oertli <matthias.oertli@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

We're looking to replace our 9402-400 (2131) with a 9406-270 (2431).
The box supports about 20-30 users with mostly interactive work (order
entry, etc.). The software is plain CL/RPG III. We use some green
screens and telnet to access the box.

I'd like to ask a couple of questions with regards to the
configuration:

- 1GB main storage, is this adequate?

- Disk arms: I'm looking at getting 4 17GB disks. Another option would
be to get 6 8GB disks in order to spread the load over more arms. But
from what I hear, IBM is going to discontinue the 8GB drives shortly
due to problems. How badly will having just 4 arms impact performance?
Are the 17GB's the right choice (performance wise)?

- It was suggested I get a 16GB quarter-inch tape drive (4583). Is
this a good choice? We currently have an 8mm drive (6390) and a
quarter-inch 2.5GB drive (6380) which is rarely used (too slow).

- The sales guy is pushing an ops-console but I prefer twinax. Should
I give in?

One more thing: It appears that a lot of configuration functions have
been moved to Ops Navigator exclusively which from what I hear is
windows only. If this is true, we have a problem because we run mostly
linux workstation. Do I need to factor in getting a Windows PC?

I'd love to be able to testdrive this stuff.... it's hard choosing of
'the plan'.

Any suggestions are most welcome.
Best regards,
Matthias

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Matthias Oertli   <matthias.oertli@mdi.com.au>