Re: New 520 - Does the OS come pre-installed?

Actually, I thought about that *exact* same thing Aaron. I have this little netbook that cast all of $400 (LOADED - 160gb 7200RPM HDD 4GB memory) and IF all you used it for was the console to boot up a *new* i or maintain an i, it would be sufficient.
I don't know all that much about an HMC, I had one customer that had one and it was...well it wasn't the *easiest* thing to use and it sure seemed like overkill to have this full sized PC sitting on top of the 520 tower (both about the same size). I know that there is a "drawer" style where the screen/keyboard folds into a flat, slide away slot, but again, a PC to run another machine seems like overkill. I've use the Ops Console on my blade three times in the past year and thats it. All of my configuring and managing is done using the IVM, a web based interface that is simple and easy to use and doesn't suck up space or BTU's to run.

I agree with Lukas though, a "clean" machine to do this is the way to go. If I was a business partner with dozens of installs a year, a netbook with all the OS and CUME images on it would be ideal. As it is, IBM could do a much better job about error/problem feedback on how to accomplish the install and setup. As a friend of mine told me time and time again: "Pete, the very *first* impression a customer should have about your product is how easy and effortless it is to install and run. That experience will color their whole image of the product".
Pete


Aaron Bartell wrote:

We use Lenovo SFF machines for this, and they're roughly 1000$ with a nice

22" screen.

This might be the perfect reason for me to purchase a netbook, load System i
Access, and keep it plugged directly into the T1 of each machine (or just
switch it from one to the other as needed). Yes! A business reason for a
netbook - Sam's Club, here I come! ;-)

IBM's documentation regarding this process is, IMHO, hilariously bad.

The worst part is the crazy long URLs they include in the paper
documentation. And then some of them were dead links!!!!!!

i don't get why IBM can't add a VGA port to the small Power 520 models, add

support for USB keyboards and one could get everything up an running just by
plugging a keyboard and a screen into their Power 520.

This would rock and makes perfect sense in my mind. Or just expand on what
ASMI can do - very fast interface compared to the browser based approach of
the new System i Access for web.

Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com


On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 8:22 AM, Lukas Beeler <lukas.beeler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

wrote:

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 13:54, Jeff Crosby <jlcrosby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

with Power i equipment. The amount of trouble people like you and Lukas

and

Pete had and are having getting new machines set up and running gives me

the

willies. I want simplicity, not this new complexity being introduced.

Well, i can't talk about Pete's experiences, but i'm deploying roughly
20-40 machines per year, and the issues i have usually affect 10-20%
of these. I don't see a higher or lower rate of problems with our
System x servers, and this is how it has always been, as far as i
remember. If IT was simple, all our customers would do everything by
themselves and i'd be out of a job ;)

If you get a good BP do this for you, you can be up and running in an
hour - well, maybe a bit more if you install all the licensed programs
needed and cum+group PTFs.

Aaraon's issues stemmed mostly from the fact that he used his normal
work laptop to configure this, which made everything more difficult
due to extensive security software installed on his laptop. This is
why we always sell the machine with a console - the customer's IT
won't have to worry about providing a machine, and i can rest secure
that i always have properly working console. We use Lenovo SFF
machines for this, and they're roughly 1000$ with a nice 22" screen.

IBM's documentation regarding this process is, IMHO, hilariously bad.
And i think the whole ops console idea is plain stupid - i don't get
why IBM can't add a VGA port to the small Power 520 models, add
support for USB keyboards and one could get everything up an running
just by plugging a keyboard and a screen into their Power 520.

But then again, these servers _are_ complex beasts. I agree that IBMs
documentation could be better for all the folks that don't deploy 40
servers per year and have gotten used to the various oddities one
encounters, but i suspect the low end market just doesn't earn them
enough cash to justify this expense.