RE: HMC Question -- MIDRANGE-L

Mark,

Your points are well taken.   This is a new world and pure culture shock for
us iSeries bigots!  This too shall pass.  :-)

Regards,

Mike Shaw





-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark Phippard
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 11:51 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: HMC Question

Good post, but you missed my point/rant.  Comments inline.

> 
> It's similar to the Linux crowd you mention because the HMC is a Linux 
based
> appliance.  It serves a specific function that only your sys admins 
should
> have access to.  Its sole function in life is to manage the i5 in terms 
of
> hardware configuration, etc.  It is not meant to be another server that
> provides services to a base of users.  I think this is important to
> understand from the very beginning.

In my comparison to Linux I had strayed from the HMC topic and was now 
just talking the iSeries in general.  There are a lot of "geeky" things 
that Linux people just know and understand, the same is true in the 
iSeries world.  I have worked with nothing else since 1991 and I barely 
understand some of the hardware aspects of it.  If I never see another IBM 
part number, it will be too soon.  Just look how often they are tossed 
around on this list. 

As an aside, our problem is that we are a pure software vendor, so we do 
not do the stuff that BP's do, and do not really have knowledge in house. 
Also, since we are a software vendor, we are cheap, and worse, we think we 
are smart.  Consequently, we want to do stuff ourselves.  This leaves us 
to work directly with IBM, and for some reason in the iSeries world they 
are just not equipped for that.  If you do not have a good BP to shield 
you from this stuff it is overwhelming.

> 
> As trivial as not plugging the i5 in until the HMC is fully functional
> sounds, it is part of a process of installing an i5 as we know it today 
if
> you choose the HMC. 

OK, but in this case it is implied that simply supplying power to the 
machine will cause what's left of your hair to fall out as well as perhaps 
lead to impotence and incontinence.

> 
> It's really not a BIG deal as long as you aware and understand the 
process.
> Since this is the first iteration of HMC for the i5, there will be more
> improvements to the process over time.  But, it is what it is today.
> 

I guess my question is, does someone, somewhere, want this process to 
require a BP/expert?  Why cannot I configure a system and have it 
delivered ready to go, especially for the price. 

> Right, wrong, or indifferent, Linux is here.  And it does have its uses.
> LinkSys routers like many of you probably use for wireless are running a
> stripped down version of the Linux kernel.  Its how they have been able 
to
> increase the security of the router because the firewalling is built 
into
> the Linux kernel.

I like Linux, I was not criticizing it intentionally.  My point, was that 
I see a lot of resentment towards the Linux clique and all of the insider 
knowledge it requires.  What I am saying is we have the same thing in the 
iSeries world.  Like I said, I have done nothing but work with an iSeries 
and I barely know any of this hardware stuff.  What would a new customer 
feel like?

> 
> One can always stay with a twinax console if HMC is getting too geeky 
for
> you! <VBG>

HMC is a requirement for LPAR.  We want the HMC, it is better than having 
3 consoles in a computer room for no other reason.  My only issue was that 
no one could tell us all of the bits of hardware we need to actually use 
it, even though we said exactly what we want.  It all seems obvious now, 
but that is because we have suddenly learned those damn part numbers.

Mark



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