RE: MySQL on System i

["Jones, John \(US\)" <John.Jones@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't think many companies would buy an iSeries specifically to run
PHP or MySQL.  However, having the ability to run PHP apps that use
MySQL may help maintain the iSeries ecosystem.  Companies that want to
move away from home-grown apps or who want to move from Enterprise
Edition to Standard Edition can maintain their database on the iSeries
and even keep the app workload on the iSeries.  Yes, the workload is
portable to other platforms but unless you're strictly staying RPG &
COBOL that's already been the case for years.

It also makes examining such technologies easier as there's no new
server to procure, build, and admin to test the environments.  You won't
even have to build a separate LPAR.  And if a company starts with PHP &
MySQL on the iSeries, there's a decent chance it'll stay there.

Vendor support for PHP & MySQL should bring hundreds or thousands of new
apps and dozens of ISVs to the platform.  Again it may not drive many
new system sales due to HW & OS costs but IBM may be successful at
making sales and certainly upgrades to established customers.

IBM may have good results pitching the scalability of the platform.  We
still doesn't see too many x86 or x64 systems with more that 4 CPUs (8
cores).  For companies with heavy workloads a Standard Edition iSeries
could compare favorably to a big Solaris box or to an x86 server farm.