Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?
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@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
- Mature - Software development seems to run in cycles with developers embracing The Next Big Thing only to find out that although it fixes a bunch of things that annoyed you about whatever you switch from, it still suffers from a bunch of new flaws. The iSeries has been around for so long you can be pretty sure it's going to work for you.
I don't think that this is a good way to look at maturity in software. The i Series is "antiquated" and doesn't have a lot of modern security features. It's not taking advantage of modern knowledge, it's just... old, not mature.
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@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
- Modern - You can build modern applications running from an iSeries! You aren't stuck with green screen UIs.
No, BUT if you are doing anything but supporting ancient software, why the heck on your on iSeries, lol.
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So, I think you've probably already answered this for the most part, but I wanted to know more why so many places use iSeries systems. As you and others have said, most banks use them; and when I was my last job (a large retail/drug chain), there was also an IBM AS400 at every store -- and we had 10,000+ locations.
As I'm reading, I see that AS400 uses DB2 (I was mistakenly thinking that the AS400 was some sort of SQL server). So is this powerful IBM hardware plus the capability of DB2 make it a good choice for extremely large and complex databases or something?
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@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
So, I think you've probably already answered this for the most part, but I wanted to know more why so many places use iSeries systems.
Very, very few do. They are so rare it's considered shocking to find one and those that use them almost universally do so because they are unable or unwilling to update their software and join the modern world. iSeries is a product that exists for legacy focused businesses that are mired in the past.
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@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
As I'm reading, I see that AS400 uses DB2 (I was mistakenly thinking that the AS400 was some sort of SQL server).
A SQL server is a term for relational databases. Not a good one, but that's how people use it. DB2 is one of the core SQL servers therefore. So yes, it is absolutely a SQL server.
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@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
So is this powerful IBM hardware plus the capability of DB2 make it a good choice for extremely large and complex databases or something?
No, it's not powerful for the price which in IT means it is not powerful, and DB2 is not a particularly good choice for anything. Nothing makes the iSeries appealing if you have the choice to use something else. iSeries exists only for people without choices. No one with a choice even looks at them.
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If you wanted power from Power systems, you'd be looking at AIX or Z systems, but not i.
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@scottalanmiller said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
So, I think you've probably already answered this for the most part, but I wanted to know more why so many places use iSeries systems.
Very, very few do. They are so rare it's considered shocking to find one and those that use them almost universally do so because they are unable or unwilling to update their software and join the modern world. iSeries is a product that exists for legacy focused businesses that are mired in the past.
Well I guess it's all relative, but it seems like there are a lot out there. I literally just had Federal Exam auditors here today and I asked them if they usually see iSeries systems at pretty much every bank with an on-premises banking core. Otherwise, they see Blade servers at bigger companies.
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@scottalanmiller said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
If you wanted power from Power systems, you'd be looking at AIX or Z systems, but not i.
Well we have a Power 720 unit.
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Power 720 for core as well.
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@brandon220 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
Power 720 for core as well.
oh you too?
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@dave247 Yes. I don't remember the model before that one but it was IBM as well.
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@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@scottalanmiller said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
So, I think you've probably already answered this for the most part, but I wanted to know more why so many places use iSeries systems.
Very, very few do. They are so rare it's considered shocking to find one and those that use them almost universally do so because they are unable or unwilling to update their software and join the modern world. iSeries is a product that exists for legacy focused businesses that are mired in the past.
Well I guess it's all relative, but it seems like there are a lot out there. I literally just had Federal Exam auditors here today and I asked them if they usually see iSeries systems at pretty much every bank with an on-premises banking core. Otherwise, they see Blade servers at bigger companies.
Blade is a form factor that no bank with a clue would ever use. Totally wrong for factor. Series i definitely comes as a blade. Your auditor doesn't know what they are seeing.
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@brandon220 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@dave247 Yes. I don't remember the model before that one but it was IBM as well.
720 doesn't make it an i, though. Most 720 are either AIX or Linux.
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@scottalanmiller said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@brandon220 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@dave247 Yes. I don't remember the model before that one but it was IBM as well.
720 doesn't make it an i, though. Most 720 are either AIX or Linux.
hmm.. well I've seen many references to iSeries here at work(including in contracts) and various support folks have referred to it as iSeries as well. Is there some specific way I can tell? It is a "green screen" console..
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@scottalanmiller said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@scottalanmiller said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
So, I think you've probably already answered this for the most part, but I wanted to know more why so many places use iSeries systems.
Very, very few do. They are so rare it's considered shocking to find one and those that use them almost universally do so because they are unable or unwilling to update their software and join the modern world. iSeries is a product that exists for legacy focused businesses that are mired in the past.
Well I guess it's all relative, but it seems like there are a lot out there. I literally just had Federal Exam auditors here today and I asked them if they usually see iSeries systems at pretty much every bank with an on-premises banking core. Otherwise, they see Blade servers at bigger companies.
Blade is a form factor that no bank with a clue would ever use. Totally wrong for factor. Series i definitely comes as a blade. Your auditor doesn't know what they are seeing.
I think he probably does know what he's seeing, actually. Maybe some detail has been missed. I'm just repeating what he said, and paraphrasing I guess. I think he was talking about IBM BladeCenter servers, though all I heard was the word "blade". I don't have any other details though.
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Wow, AS400.... I thought Guitar Center was way behind the curve still being on AS400 when I worked there in the mid-late 90s...
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@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@scottalanmiller said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@brandon220 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@dave247 Yes. I don't remember the model before that one but it was IBM as well.
720 doesn't make it an i, though. Most 720 are either AIX or Linux.
hmm.. well I've seen many references to iSeries here at work(including in contracts) and various support folks have referred to it as iSeries as well. Is there some specific way I can tell? It is a "green screen" console..
Oh I'm sure that yours is i Series. I was just saying that the volume of 720 deployments doesn't reflect i Series itself, but the hardware in general.
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@rojoloco said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
Wow, AS400.... I thought Guitar Center was way behind the curve still being on AS400 when I worked there in the mid-late 90s...
And it was. AS/400 was definitely already ageing heavily by that point.
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@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@scottalanmiller said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@scottalanmiller said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
@dave247 said in Disaster Recovery as a service companies that support IBM iSeries / AS400 systems?:
So, I think you've probably already answered this for the most part, but I wanted to know more why so many places use iSeries systems.
Very, very few do. They are so rare it's considered shocking to find one and those that use them almost universally do so because they are unable or unwilling to update their software and join the modern world. iSeries is a product that exists for legacy focused businesses that are mired in the past.
Well I guess it's all relative, but it seems like there are a lot out there. I literally just had Federal Exam auditors here today and I asked them if they usually see iSeries systems at pretty much every bank with an on-premises banking core. Otherwise, they see Blade servers at bigger companies.
Blade is a form factor that no bank with a clue would ever use. Totally wrong for factor. Series i definitely comes as a blade. Your auditor doesn't know what they are seeing.
I think he probably does know what he's seeing, actually. Maybe some detail has been missed. I'm just repeating what he said, and paraphrasing I guess. I think he was talking about IBM BladeCenter servers, though all I heard was the word "blade". I don't have any other details though.
Just for your reference, IBM BladeCenters are 100% these boxes
IBM only makes one thing, Power, and all Power can run iSeries. So all IBM blades can be i Series, if i OS is installed on them.Today, System i just refers to the OS installed on any IBM server. It used to be special hardware pre-2000, but has been standard Power hardware since the AS/400 models were dropped at the end of 1999.
