Tim:
Just curious about the offering. IBM seems to think (if I understand
what is being offered correctly). That most mainframes are hooked up
to the internet. While this may be true for some companies, I suspect
it is not true for most. The sysplex timer (IMO) was a costly
"feature" IMO it really didn't offer a real payback. While it may
have been nice to have it really wasn't high on anyones list of got
to have this. I worked at a place that had one and IMO it was a box
that not vary many people had a clue what it was.
On one hand you have an expensive (25K IIRC) piece of equipment that
really didn't offer a hard return . On the other hand is a piece of
software that if ordered requires a hook up to the Internet. Just how
many companies are going to go for that kind of trade off? On one
hand a secure environment and on the other hand the timer is costly
yet reasonably secure.
Ed
On Nov 13, 2006, at 1:00 AM, Timothy Sipples wrote:
Shane writes:
Yep, I'd reckon it'd be a pretty hard sell for those (particularly
small) shops that shelled out for redundant timers as recommended by
IBM.
The replacement would need to be real cheap.
Every customer is different, but I believe the intent here is to
simplify
the infrastructure and, thus, lower costs. ("Progress.") There are
several probable cost reductions: lower hardware maintenance (no
Sysplex
timer hardware), less cabling, less electricity, less floor space,
less
labor (at least for physical setup and maintenance), less data
center air
conditioning, less complicated DR. I believe there's also a potential
distance benefit for GDPS customers. There may be a bit of
residual value
in the Sysplex timers that customers switching to STP could
recoup. (There
will be a secondary market in Sysplex timers for a period of time.)
Your mileage may vary, but probably not much here. Looks to me
like a very
good step forward, technologically and financially.
- - - - -
Timothy Sipples
IBM Consulting Enterprise Software Architect
Specializing in Software Architectures Related to System z
Based in Tokyo, Serving IBM Japan and IBM Asia-Pacific
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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