RE: Need Console 101 badly

Hmmm. So maybe the thin console is a red herring, and I really need to
decide about Ops Console.

Thin console requires special hardware (about $700, and that's without a
monitor), which is in effect a dedicated emulation machine. Yuk! Whereas
Ops Console (or LAN Console - which is the correct term?) is thick client
software which runs on a generic Wintel machine (and thus is accessible via
VNC).

My biggest problem with Ops Console is that it seems to require TCP/IP, and
so what if you ENDTCPSVR? Does it bring down the console??? That's my big
concern, because invariably about once a year I do something that requires
an ENDTCPSVR, and I just get the heebie-jeebies worrying that I can't run
STRTCPSVR because I can't sign on to the console because I can't run
STRTCPSVR because I can't sign on to the console because...

Joe

From: Larry Bolhuis

...cap the marker and open the window joe..... :-)

There is a device called the 'Thin Console'. It does most of what you
describe over a simple connection to one of the i5's HMC ports. This is
Ethernet so the connection truly is very simple. The device however only
does what a Twinax tube does - 5250 emulation. So you end up not wasting
a slot for a twinax card and the required IOP and you get twinax class
simplicity and reliability. Unless it's gotten some serious upgrades,
it doesn't connect to anything else so you can't connect to it with
Telnet or a browser. It's just a terminal.

Yes OPS console is 'fat' and it has it's problems mostly the Windows PC
required to run it. However once it's running it does work pretty well.
I use LAN console almost everywhere I don't have an HMC. I often simply
use an old PC with W2K or XP. For FrankieIII it's an old thinkpad with
no display (I access it via remote desktop) You could easily use one to
access both the 270 and the i5 being the primary console for both systems.

For the cheapest HMC purchase a desktop or desk-side unit and use you
own monitor or KVM. Both are under $1900 though that still doesn't
qualify as 'cheap' It does everything I want a console to do and the
newest software version allows you to access it from a simple browser
(no more WEBSM).

So as usual you pay your money and take your choice.