RE: First time buying System i5 -- MIDRANGE-L

Aaron,

Just my .02 but 35GB (2x35 mirrored) just doesn't seem like enough.

However, you could always add 2 more drives later without having to
reload the box.

Charles Wilt
--
iSeries Systems Administrator / Developer
Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America
ph: 513-573-4343
fax: 513-398-1121

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of albartell
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 5:37 AM
To: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: First time buying System i5

Now I am getting closer to a purchase/lease and have some 
questions about
what I will need once the box gets to the office.  Note that 
this is the
first System i5 we have hosted in our office so that is why 
the elementary
questions.

1. Do I use 110 or 220 power?  From what I understood in a 
side conversation
I heard the System i5 can do either.  Benefits to either?

2. Should I get a power conditioning unit?

3. I know I need a UPS.  Any recommendations or will 
something like the
following work perfect: http://tinyurl.com/qkoy8

4. Any other setup or physical environment things I need to 
be made aware
of?

BTW, here is where I am at with my configuration - comments?  
Note that I
have two HD's and they are mirrored and NOT RAIDed.  The tech 
I am working
with at IBM, whose judgment I trust, told me that mirrored 
drives will give
me very similar data protection (i.e. drive goes down, just 
replace it ASAP,
same as RAID), but also mentioned that mirrored drives potentially are
faster with I/O compared to their RAID counterparts.

Summary:
 9406 520 0975 7350 600/30 CPW Value Edition with 2G memory
 2x 35.16GB drives; embedded ethernet; DVD; VXA internal 
cartridge tape
 V5.4 with one year Software Maintenance; 

Full config:  
<http://mowyourlawn.com/temp/Krengel_Technology_Value2_3_.pdf>
http://mowyourlawn.com/temp/Krengel_Technology_Value2_3_.pdf

Note that ISV's get software "at no addtl charge" so in the 
end my lease
price is on the $12,904 number which should put me at $129.04 
per month (not
too shabby!).

Aaron "I'm buying an i" Bartell
-------------------------------
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

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