Re: IBM Power Systems enhances its server and I/O options

On Thu, 2017-02-16 at 07:48 -0600, Jim Oberholtzer wrote:

Jon,

There is a whale of difference between "supported" and "works". Supported
means IBM has tested it completely and it will perform as described.

The huge disk units will make IBM i very slow due to the way IBM i does I/O
to the DASD units, hence it won't perform within specifications and
therefore is not supported. You'd hate it if they allowed you to use it
except in very narrow circumstances such as those that Larry pointed out
earlier.

Remember that if you experiment and find out something works, (or seems to)
then when you call IBM for help on your hardware or software warranty the
problem may in fact be generated by that unsupported equipment that may have
been rejected by IBM for a reason. IBM will tell you when you get to a
supported configuration to call them back, rightly so.

IBM i keeps its device drivers in LIC. When it recognizes a device it loads
the drivers needed for that device on to the interface card (SAS or Fibre)
and then the card is able to drive the device. The device drivers for the
item you hang on the system may not be there or if the one it chooses is not
really compatible then problems of unknown types occur. Remember the
"unexpected results may occur" phrase? It's there for a reason.

In the end if you pay the money to get one of these systems at least wait
until its off warranty to try hanging unsupported stuff on it, and
NEVER,EVER do it to a production system.

Thank you for the information above.

When Larry and I built the first of the "Franken Series" boxes at COMMON in
Indianapolis we had specific goals in mind and we achieved them. Those
boxes were never in a production role. So when I say what might work is
different than what's supported we come from a point of experimentation and
knowledge. BTW: we did find some stuff that simply did not work or did
work but would have blown up the system, so there are limits.

I was wondering if what was done was documented and if so if would be
possible to get a copy?

Sadly I'm not a member of common as I stopped programming a long time
ago... although I'm currently trying to refresh my rpg and other skills
to try to get back into work in the i.

--
Jim Oberholtzer
Agile Technology Architects

Jon.