RE: First time buying System i5

How about 2 mirrored 70 or 140 GB disks instead of 3-4 35 GB disks?  35
GB disks are on their way out; don't expect IBM to continue to market
them for very much longer.  70 & 140 GB disks are the current pick of
the litter. 

To me, the inability to just carve out space from the pool of available
disk, like OS/400 does to allow Linux & Windows Network Server Storage
Spaces (NWSSTG), is one place where the LPAR tech can stand to be
improved.  IBM should move the NWSSTG function to the HMC/firmware and
allow i5/OS to IPL off of that.  Doing that would drastically simplify
disk management on LPARed machines.


As to moving from a single to multiple partitions, it's not really any
big deal on the 5xx generation of hardware.  I'd suggest you go ahead
and get the HMC now, though, as that way you aren't tasked with
switching console types should you choose to partition in the future.
And the HMC give you some nice remote management capabilities like
remote console support.

If you go for the HMC, you can skip IBM's KVM solution in favor of any
(read: cheaper) KVM solution, including a KVM switch you may already
have or just a $4 keyboard with a $3 mouse and $80 CRT (say,
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Edp
No=1649623&CatId=0 plus
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Edp
No=659662&CatId=0 ).  It's just VGA & USB.

John A. Jones, CISSP
Americas Information Security Officer
Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.
V: +1-630-455-2787 F: +1-312-601-1782
john.jones@xxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of albartell
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 1:14 PM
To: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: 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