RE: System i5 first boot

Windows PC: $500ish (could be less, could be a lot more).  Twinax card:
Haven't used them in at least a decade; the closest thing I see online
after a brief search is a PCCard for notebooks at $370.  pcAnywhere
license for host & remote: $100.  Anti-Virus software at $30.  So you're
at $1000 street price or thereabouts.  That's marginally cheaper than
the $1300 mentioned below for an HMC.  KVM and LAN connections are the
same for either setup so I omitted those costs.  Cheaper if you use
used/low-end stuff but do you really want to cheap-out when it comes to
controlling your main production server?  Is the 4-year old used PC
going to be reliable over the useful life of the i5?

The HMC + i5 combo has a single source for support & service.  Talk
about KISS; if you have a problems do you want 5 vendors (PC hardware,
MS for Windows, PC Card vendor, Symantec, IBM for i5) or 1 in the mix?
At a minimum you'll be applying monthly patches from MS, daily updates
from your AV/AS vendor, and periodic updates for pcAnywhere.
Potentially a BIOS updates to the PC and a firmware update to the Twinax
card (although I doubt any'd be released) over the course of the
product's useful life.  On the HMC you can load out a new release at
your discretion; maybe once or twice a year.

As an appliance, the HMC does not need anti-virus/spyware software.  It
does not need a security policy/MSB applied to it as there's no
significant hardening to do.

Seems to me that the HMC is a lot simpler than a PC with iSeries Access
& remote access software.  More functional, too.  The reduced setup &
ongoing administration effort should in the end make it cheaper than a
PC-based console.  Only twinax terminals are simpler and they lack the
functionality necessary (i.e. remote access) needed by many businesses
today.  Really, in this day and age who wants to drive in to the data
center or the office to do an OS upgrade, RCLSTG, or other
restricted-state work?

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 pnelson@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 6:27 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: System i5 first boot

The simplest poor man's remote access is a PC, twinax card and  PC
Anywhere or GotoMyPC. I prefer the latter