> -----Original Message----- > From: Linux on 390 Port [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of > Alan Altmark > Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 9:49 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: 2074 and the HMC > [... snip ...] > > On a personal note, I have never understood the aversion to > having 3270 > access for all LPARs on all CECs. Given the value you > receive, the IBM > 2074, or similar non-IBM products, are worth the relatively > small expense.
Think about it this way: A 2074 is not cheap (> $10K), and the floor space required for enough 3174s and associated 3270s to serve all possible LPARs is expensive as well, even if the devices themselves are almost free on the used market. 3174s don't fit in 19" racks, and they're yet another device to have to pay hardware maintenance on. Setting up an EMIFed ESCON 3174 as your first experience with 390 hw configuration is NOT for the faint of heart, and CE/FE's ain't what they used to be, even with system assurance mtgs, etc. It's also an expectation issue -- for a new 390 customer, the concept of paying an extra $10-20K for a 2074 console controller just to be able to *boot* their new $400K mainframe or install the OS is pretty silly -- yes, it's a good thing to have, but the $40K Sun sitting next to it requires a $10 serial cable or a PC keyboard and monitor that they probably have sitting on their desk. Even on the multi-million Sunfire systems, you can still install the OS with what comes in the box. Consider also that is is pretty difficult to integrate a 3270 into an existing console management solution. You can't just buy another $50 KVM cable, and rebuilding your console infrastructure for one system isn't a particularly popular idea with most ops groups -- most organizations have enough trouble getting operators to pay attention to their systems when the KVM switch automatically changes the view every 30 seconds. The system that isn't part of that integrated KVM environment won't ever get attention. It's these kind of stupid little integration issues that emphasize the difference between 390 and other systems, and they make selling 390 to non-390 customers hard. -- db
