RE: What the heck is this AS/400 thing?? -- MIDRANGE-NONTECH

WELL SAID...!, Mark.

Especially liked: "I would hate to troubleshoot audited, transaction
controlled, multi-tiered mission critical invoice records from 100 users
written in VB on a farm of NT servers with 10 label printers in 5 plants.
You need a staff to do that. 1 person can do that on an as/400."

The 38/400/i was DESIGNED to be simpler, from the beginning.  I think it's
taking a wrong turn, in that respect.  In a lot of areas, because of the
perceived urgency of keeping up with Microskunk and the rest of the
competition, the emphasis is on getting out new features, rather than
designing it simple-to-use.

But still, no other platform has as good a balance between easy-to-use (ie
saving $) and powerful.

You can't know everything about anything.. including the iSeries.  But one
person CAN know enough to run an entire company, using an iSeries.  Done all
the time...

Thanks Mark, and also Willow (for asking the question in the first
place)...!


jt in SiliCow Valley ;D


| -----Original Message-----
| From: midrange-nontech-admin@midrange.com
| [mailto:midrange-nontech-admin@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Mark Villa
| Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2001 11:56 PM
| To: midrange-nontech@midrange.com
| Subject: RE: What the heck is this AS/400 thing??
|
|
| ~~~Hi all,
| ~~~
| ~~~I'm new to the AS/400 and I'm finding myself completely lost
| ~~~most of the
|
| Wow! Nice book references. I have not read any of them. (but need
| to) Hey, I
| found a mentor in the beginning, lucky I guess.
| The iseriesnetwork.com site should let you find the level and
| topic you want
| to.
| Also, I like some of the tapes, but it's a method that I used.
| We used to use BookManager and other "hardcopy" materials for all the
| guides. Slowly, I have trusted the web for everything. A CD comes with the
| AS/400 that may have some basics, at least see what is on it, getting
| started, etc. Also, for in depth "tricks of the trade", the
| ultimate source
| for me other than human is the Redbooks maintained by IBM.
| http://publib-b.boulder.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/Portals/AS400Redbooks
|
| Also, I took a glance at the responses for "why the AS/400". Well, lots of
| business used IBM's midrange before the PC. Lots of dollars to throw into
| the trash, so after some years, you have a lot to answer for. It's hard to
| change. Now, for a new installation? It is still a tough call.
| Ideally, you
| pick the application (that you don't get fired over) then you pick
| compatible hardware. So, it could be anything. They are all here
| to stay, in
| one form or another (my opinion). The iSeries does run PC code these days?
| See how I mean, in one form or another.
| In basic no-frills form, the iSeries is hard to beat for a new
| install of a
| reliable system at a new widget plant.
| The PC's are for the fluff things, email clients, CAD drawings, cheap
| connectivity. Would not want to surf the net on AS/400 (yet).  I
| would hate
| to troubleshoot audited, transaction controlled, multi-tiered mission
| critical invoice records from 100 users written in VB on a farm of NT
| servers with 10 label printers in 5 plants.  You need a staff to
| do that. 1
| person can do that on an as/400. It truly is easier, more strict. In my
| experience, A DBA was needed on Mainframe and PC Server
| scenarios, but most
| can manage with much broader skill set, with less depth on the AS/400. The
| DB is the same on every AS/400, not rue for the others, and so,
| complexity.
| Over the years, this gives a track record to look back on for software and
| hardware.
| I saw a joke recently (here) that says it all, it may even be true. The
| AS/400 in a plant was so non-intrusive/reliable/in the fabric of things/
| that they built a wall in the area during some construction, and someone
| went hunting for it months later, and found it enclosed.
|
|
| Mark Villa in Charleston SC
|
|
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