Assuming the installation procedures are as desired/requested, is there any problem with DVD media when/as physical media distribution is required? They're pretty large for software distribution purposes -- over 4 GB each at least before compression. Certainly large enough to get started up and then (if desired) get attached to storage and/or network -- including your software product repository.
DVD is the only common, universal media type for mainframes, isn't it? With a DVD path I know I'll always have an execution path, even if I'm at an unexpected and "alien" DR site. With tape I've then got to worry about whether it's Type X Vendor Y tape, and that's assuming there's even a tape drive at all (not a given). I'm certainly not opposed to anyone who wants to use a particular type of tape for their own media distribution needs. But isn't DVD what IBM and other mainframe software vendors ought to be using on those occasions when they're shipping something physical. Also bearing in mind that'd it'd at least be helpful if all the vendors could agree on one media, and they're unlikely to agree on anything except the universal format. There's also the fact that practically anybody can record DVDs, and they're trivially easy to ship, so any delays associated with media manufacturing/recording/distribution are at least minimized relative to other formats. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples IT Architect Executive, zEnterprise Industry Solutions, AP/GCG/MEA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
