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Joe, you might have missed a couple of my recent posts on this so I'll recap my problem. We're running Oracle EnterpriseOne (E1) a.k.a. JDE OneWorld. End of recap. .. Well, for clarity I'll continue. The main E1 layers are: - Deployment Server. Manages object development activities, pushes updates to other layers. Only available for Windows; we run it on an IxS. - Database. DB2/400 or just about any other major database out there. - Application. Can run on i5/OS, Windows, or *nix. - UI. While Citrix was an option, it's been EOLed. The preferred UI, i.e. the one that is supported and is seeing enhancements, runs on WebSphere App Server. Supported OSes include i5/OS, Windows, and a few flavors of Unix. There's also a Windows fat client but it's really fat (4+GB client footprint) and isn't suitable for non-LAN deployment (it's what the developers use). So while we have choices they are somewhat limited. First preference, and what we're doing today, is to run everything possible on the iSeries. However, we'll run out of gas shortly and are facing a huge expense to upgrade to boxes (prod + DR) to handle the workload that the app will see over the next 12-15 months. Huge as in potentially 7 figures. Management is balking and rightfully so. Now, running consolidated has some nice advantages. Besides simpler admin there are resource benefits: CPU that's not needed for one layer (say, the UI) can be used for another layer (batch work). And all of the other traditional iSeries work management stuff that you know already. So one thought is to move WAS off the iSeries. This reduces costs nicely but also adds complexity and starts to eat away at the advantages to running on a single system image. To directly address your points: - Can't use Tomcat as WAS is the supported app server. - Linux itself isn't ruled out but as a firm our first choice is Windows. We are a mostly MS-centric shop for things non-iSeries. - As to licensing, WAS is 'free' with E1 so the only licensing that matters is the OS and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise (needed for >4 GB RAM support) costs 5% of a single i5/OS core license. - The Dell wouldn't really need to be backed up as it wouldn't be running business logic or storing data; it would only be running the UI. A fresh WAS server from OS install to running WAS server would only take a couple of hours. Or we could back it up to the SAN. Our WAN backbone is now GigaMAN so bandwidth is not a concern. - Database will stay iSeries. Numbers have not yet been run to see if the existing box can handle it; this has to be investigated. - Business logic will stay iSeries; same caveat as above. - The apps are a mix of C and Java and is generated by the deployment server directly or by submitting compiles to the iSeries. - Appliances and whatnot are out; we can only run vendor-supported devices and in fact have an Oracle-certified installation. I agree that WAS isn't really a great app for the iSeries to run. My personal fear (which can be at odds with what's best for the firm) is that if WAS moves off, what's to keep the app logic and/or database from moving off when the system needs the next upgrade and management balks again? 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 Joe Pluta Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 1:28 PM To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion' Subject: RE: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch
From: Jones, John (US) So for under $25K I'd have 16 cores, 32GB RAM, and all the trimmings.
Can the iSeries compete with that? Because like it or not, iSeries iNtegration advantages or not, like the platform or not, this is what it boils down to.
Nope. This is NOT a workload for an iSeries. You are better served with a dedicated web appliance. Personally, though, I'd go with Linux or FreeBSD running Apache/Tomcat rather than WebSphere on Windows because the licensing would be much cheaper. You know I'm one of the biggest iSeries evangelists out there, John, and I'm saying specifically that this is the WRONG JOB for that box. Unless, of course, you're worried about backup and data security. Which you can get on the Dell, but it will cost a bit more than the $25K you've mentioned, especially if you have separate, redundant database which require mirroring. On the other hand, what is your business logic? Are you running RPG and using DB2? Because if you are you can have the business logic on the iSeries, along with the database, and then have a very reliable easy to backup solution which probably wouldn't require data mirroring because of the added reliability of the box. You could do this on a very low-cost iSeries. Then you could in turn reduce the size of the web appliance and get two, for failover purposes, and maybe even invest in another Internet connection (and redundant switches and so on). The problem is not the iSeries, it's the business requirement. If you don't need data security, the web appliance is a great option. But if you want both data security and relatively low-cost web serving, a combination solution might be the best. Joe -- This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options, visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l. This email is for the use of the intended recipient(s) only. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and then delete it. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not keep, use, disclose, copy or distribute this email without the author's prior permission. We have taken precautions to minimize the risk of transmitting software viruses, but we advise you to carry out your own virus checks on any attachment to this message. We cannot accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. The information contained in this communication may be confidential and may be subject to the attorney-client privilege. If you are the intended recipient and you do not wish to receive similar electronic messages from us in the future then please respond to the sender to this effect.
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