Re: new serial with V7R1? -- MIDRANGE-L

IRS limits the value of the asset replacement for an upgrade. They do that by measuring the compute horsepower from old to new. If that percentage is too great, in the case of POWER5 to POWER7 it is, then they force a new asset for depreciation purposes.

I don't have the exact citation but that has been true for many years.

IRS *IS* is a regulatory agency that tells me what I can and cannot do with my assets in my business from an accounting perspective, and while they don't directly limit what I buy, they can tax it to the point where it's too expensive. Congress sets the rates, IRS decides how to apply them.

Jim Oberholtzer
CEO/Chief Technical Architect
Agile Technology Architects, LLC

On 2/15/2011 6:03 PM, John Jones wrote:

I don't believe this IRS limitation. Seriously, we bought a 262 CPW 720
back in '99 and it's currently a Power 5 570 with the same serial number.
And in the 20 years I've been working with AS/400s and their offspring this
thread is the first time I've ever heard of the IRS caring.

Can anyone cite the IRS publication or rule that specifies limits on
computer processing power upgrades? I mean, there may be accounting limits
on what can be written off or depreciated but the IRS is not a regulatory
agency and is not in the business of limiting what one can purchase.

On Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 11:53 AM, Glenn Hopwood<ghopwood.list@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Thank you, I was trying to figure out why the IRS was involved..
>
> Before the announcement on the 8th (211-021), the Power 6 to Power 7
> option was cheaper for us. Now, the new serial number option may be
> cheaper. I've been told that we have no accounting issues or serial
> number based software so we'll see what our BP comes up with.
>
> Glenn
>
>
> On 2/15/2011 12:17 PM, Jim Oberholtzer wrote:

> > Glen,
> >
> > You CAN do the back up and restore directly to a POWER7!!. Furthermore
> > if your OS is up on maintenance you can transfer the licenses for the

> LPPs.

> >
> > The ONLY change is the hardware system serial number if you get a new
> > POWER7 directly. That is an IRS requirement because the POWER7 is so
> > much bigger than the POWER5 IRS won't let you upgrade the asset for
> > accounting purposes.
> >
> > If you go the double upgrade route (only an accountant would care if the
> > POWER5 is not written off the books yet) then back up/restore to the
> > POWER6 box, run 60 days, backup/restore to your new POWER7 box and go.
> >
> > Personally I'd just get the new box.
> >
> > Jim Oberholtzer
> > CEO/Chief Technical Architect
> > Agile Technology Architects, LLC
> >
> >
> > On 2/15/2011 10:45 AM, Glenn Hopwood wrote:

> >> My basic question is: Why can't I do a save/restore from my old hardware
> >> (Power 5+) to my new hardware (Power 7) just like we've done numerous
> >> times before (assuming the OS is supported on both systems)?
> >>
> >> Why do I need to purchase and then discard a Power 6 machine or
> >> re-purchase the OS (new serial number)?
> >>
> >> Glenn
> >>
> >> On 2/15/2011 10:22 AM, Dan wrote:

> >>>> Glenn, is your question "what release can I run on which server?" or
> >>>> "how do I upgrade and preserve my serial number?"
> >>>>
> >>>> Some things that might help you:
> >>>>
> >>>> 1. IBM maintains a web page which shows which Power and System i

> models

> >>>> work with which releases of IBM i:
> >>>>

> http://www-947.ibm.com/systems/support/i/planning/upgrade/osmapping.html

> >>>>
> >>>> 2. As Larry pointed out, IBM doesn't offer an upgrade from POWER5
> >>>> directly to POWER7. There are some upgrade paths from POWER5 to

> POWER6

> >>>> (from which you can upgrade to POWER7) but I believe that these

> upgrades

> >>>> will be withdrawn from marketing May 27, 2011.
> >>>>
> >>>> 3. Going back to Jerry's original question, I wonder if what someone
> >>>> said was that since upgrades from POWER5 to POWER6 go away May 27,

> in

> >>>> June or later you can't two-step upgrade a POWER5 box to POWER7 and

> keep

> >>>> your serial number. Maybe "POWER7" and "IBM i version 7" got

> confused

> >>>> in someone's memory. Or maybe it's me that's confused. Happens all

> the

> >>>> time.
> >>>>
> >>>> 4. If you don't care about preserving your server's serial number,

> you

> >>>> can replace your POWER5+ server with a new POWER7 server running IBM

> i

> >>>> 6.1 or 7.1 now, or in June, or whenever you like.
> >>>>
> >>>> -Dan R., IBM Power Systems Tech Specialist
> >>>>
> >>>> On 2/15/2011 9:21 AM, Glenn Hopwood wrote:

> >>>>>> Larry,
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Can you expand on this? We are currently on a Power 5+ and would

> like to

> >>>>>> get to a Power 7. I don't see a technical reason why we can't go
> >>>>>> straight to the 7...
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Glenn
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On 2/11/2011 11:16 PM, DrFranken wrote:

> >>>>>>>> If you have a POWER5 or 5+ machine you can already run IBM i 7.1

> so

> >>>>>>>> you're good. But on the other hand if you want to get up to

> POWER7 then

> >>>>>>>> you would need to either upgrade to POWER6 and THEN to POWER7

> (two

> >>>>>>>> steps) to keep the same serial number or you buy a new POWER7

> and get a

> >>>>>>>> new serial number.