RE: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch

From: Lukas Beeler

I'm sorry, that's just what IBM sells as an entry level system. Most
small business customers CAN'T afford to pay more, for more arms.
Remember, Disks cost about four times what normal (server, brand) disks
cost.

This I agree with.  IBM disk costs more.  Okay, you've made your point.

And most windows servers don't have a problem dishing out Exchange and
Files for 30 users with 2x15kRPM 70GB (System / DB Log), 2x10kRPM 147
(Data Storage).

And this proves what???  Windows is a better file server than the iSeries.
Yes indeed, commodity disks and a desktop OS together provide you with a
file server, which is exactly what these machines are good for.

Why should a simple Database machine not work with 2x36GB?

AIEEEEEEEEEE!  Because it's NOT A SIMPLE DATABASE MACHINE!  It's a complex
multi-user work management machine.  It provides user profile management and
batch job support and system routing and print spooling and communications
and object-level auditing and integrated journaling and... and... and...

Lukas, if Windows is so wonderful, you should have ALREADY rewritten your
business applications in VB and we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
If you were really using the iSeries as a DATABASE MACHINE, you wouldn't
ever call a line of RPG, you'd access it all through SQL server.

At which point you'd ditch the iSeries because of the "expensive disks" and
move everything to Windows.  At that point, you'd end up buying five times
the server capacity you're talking about, and then double THAT for failover.
Then you'd hire extra people for the administration and keeping the hardware
up and running and ...

Ah, nevermind.

Joe