Re: USDA Agency Looks to Consolidate 2,384 AS/400s

John Paris wrote:
They were determined many years ago that they would
move off the system.  The fact that it has taken this long
speaks volumes.

That's quite believable, but their new platform choice wasn't mentioned in the 
System i/News article or Request for Information.  The RFI did state:

"FSA?s State and County Service Centers each house an AS/400 model 170..."

"In 2000, FSA started deploying AS/400 systems and re-hosted the applications 
and data from S/36 systems."



"In addition to the legacy applications, FSA has developed centralized
web-based applications.  Once a full suite of Web-based applications
is available, these will replace the legacy applications and the
distributed environment."



If a full suite of Web-based applications (presumably running on a new 
platform) aren't ready yet, and their existing applications are hosted on  six 
(6) year old model 170 servers, running unsupported OS releases and S/36 
features, it's a pretty safe bet that the USDA is feeling quite a bit of 
pressure at this time.

How long before a full-suite of Web-based replacement applications are 
available, and how long can they hobble along on old hardware and unsupported 
OS releases?

I can't think of any way out of their predicament, but to replace the AS/400s 
with one or more System i servers in the near future.

I don't know what size of system they'll need, but they could easily spend $25 
million replacing 2,384 individual servers.  Will they lop off the heads of the 
people who promised a replacement system before the useful life of the legacy 
system expired?

Nathan.




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