I think what we really need is the ability of the HMC to use a USB as an input device (e.g. be able to IPL a standalone program off of a USB stick, and have a program like DDR use the USB stick as an input or output device), and perhaps the ability of z/VM to read AND write to the USB so that we can write iplable decks and DDR content there.
If a vendor (IBM or otherwise) wants to further exploit that capability with products that make it easier, so much the better. But the "basic" ability to do I/O to the device via the HMC and OS are what I'd be looking for. -Mike -----Original Message----- From: The IBM z/VM Operating System [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alan Altmark Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 10:56 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Using DVD to restore an existing z/VM? On Friday, 06/19/2009 at 08:27 EDT, "McKown, John" <[email protected]> wrote: > And, from what I've seen, IBM does not like to give some things out to > customers because it "freezes" what IBM can do in the future. Backward > compatability is wonderful for customers and a royal pain for vendors as it can > impact innovation. I wonder when/if Linux will ever suffer from the "can't > change that, the customers would revolt" syndrome. That's true, but it goes even deeper. Backup/Restore is "vendor space," including IBM's own offerings. We can't do things in the base product or give away things that would negatively affect the value of such software. But that's all stuff that gets sorted out when the actual requirement is analyzed by product planners and we understand what technology is needed and how it is best delivered. Alan Altmark z/VM Development IBM Endicott
