RE: First time buying System i5

Based on comments from this group I called back IBM and worked through what
I think I will need for a configuration.  One area that I was surprised at,
that is going to cost a boat load of money more, is that each LPAR needs to
have it's own exclusive HD's.  So for a 3 LPAR machine I would need a
minimum of 9 35GB HD's (optimally 12 so each LPAR could have 4 each).  That
means for HD's alone the cost is $14,388 (ouch).  Note though that memory
can be shared across LPARS.
 
So I may be back to looking at a single LPAR machine unless I can find a
steal of a deal for some 4326 HD's. 
 
Question for the minds: If I go with a machine without separate LPARs to
start with, how much "work" would it be on my end to upgrade to an HMC with
multiple LPAR's in the future?
 
 
Thanks,
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
 
 

  _____  

From: albartell [mailto:albartell@xxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 8:06 AM
To: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: First time buying System i5


Hi Everyone, 
 
For a variety of details I wont dive into, I am now tasked with
purchasing/leasing my first System i5.  I am actually quite excited because
it is the same feeling I get when I buy a new PC, except this time I have
next to zero knowledge on what I need to tell the friendly guy on the other
end of the phone.  I am coming at this from an Partnerworld ISV standpoint
where they give what seems to be pretty darned good deals for leasing or
buying (i.e. 1% of list price per month or 50% off list price). Note that
this is strictly going to be used for development and does not need to be
HA.
 
Here's what I need to be able to do on the machine:
1. Develop RPGILE/CLLE/CLE/SQL code (need to be able to compile at V5R1)
2. QShell environment.
3. Ability to run Java natively AND in a servlet container (Tomcat is my app
server of choice)
4. Ability to have more than one LPAR (rep tells me I need an HMC to
accomplish this. The HMC is some sort of Linux appliance that gives you
control over your different LPARS)
5. Backup code and files (talking less than 1 or 2GB). Do I need addtl
hardware for this or can I back to a network device?
6. Less than 5 profiles on 5250 at any give time.
7. DB2 and Query and SQL capabilities
8. WDSC and PDM (I already have WDSC 6.0)
9. Apache and SSL capabilities
 
My retail price range is $10k to $15k which from what I can tell will get me
a solid entry level machine.
 
Based on the "Quick Pricer PDF" emailed to me, here is what I THINK I need,
but I am lost as to if I have everything covered.
 
Model/Server Feature SW Tier: 520-0975 P05
CPW: 600/30 cpw
Edition Name: Value
Processor Speed: 1.9 Ghz Power 5+ includes L3 cache on 1200/60 cpw version
Processor Feature: 8325
Edition Featue and Price: 7350 $8,200
ESA 24x7: $110
 
Some things I don't understand or need clarification on:
1. What are "feature codes"? (i.e. 8325, 7350, etc).  For instance, it
appears as though feature 7350 is a package deal of some sort.
2. From what I understand ESA gives me 24x7 access to support vs. just
within business hours (seems like a good deal for only $110 more).
3. What is "5250 CPW 30"?  Is that how much processing power is given to
green screens?
4. When they say "Disk Drive" on this page: http://tinyurl.com/pbpxa, what
are they referring to? A harddrive? A backup drive of some sort?
5. Do I need a "Twinax Adapater"?  Is that if I want to connect an old
school console directly to the machine?
6. What's the difference between the "Comm Adapter" and "Ethernet Lan" on
this page: http://tinyurl.com/pbpxa
7. Is 600/30 cpw enough horsepower to run a machine with less than 5
developers on it at a given time?
8. Is 1GB of memory enough to do general RPG development with some small
Tomcat/Java and native Java mixed in there?
 
Thanks to anyone that can help this lowly programmer buy his first iSeries
:-)
 
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com