I'm currently running a z800 with a minimal IFL configuration. In my mind we've done the proof of concept and shown that we can actually run a couple of web servers but not much else due to memory constraints. I've got a z9 coming in the next month with 8G of memory dedicated to the IFL and a charter from above to "get things going". My concern is my current Unix support staff. They have done some Linux deployments on various other hardware, but their biggest concern is that Linux isn't AIX:
"In my opinion, and the last time I talked to him, admin x agreed with me, Linux is where AIX was ten years ago. It does not have the management tools, has not proven itself to be as stable, and has not earned the level of trust that AIX has. Trouble-shooting and reporting tools are primitive. We are running it today in a few limited instances, and it has its gotchas, like needing down time to add disk space to file systems. Ten years ago, AIX was the same way, but it has matured a lot - Linux still has a long way to go. Several years ago, admin x was troubleshooting AIX and had IBM support on the phone. The IBMer told him to type in a data collection command, and the command knocked the system down. Today it doesn't. That is the same type of maturing that Linux is still going through. It doesn't matter whether it is on the mainframe or on an Intel server - you don't want to trust Linux with mission critical jobs. We can run it, as long as we are willing to accept the outages that are normal to any immature technology. Apps like Service Center come to mind, because not many people consider it a crisis when that is down." Bearing in mind that I'm a zSeries software guy and know only enough about Linux and AIX administration to be dangerous, how do I answer that argument? Are his concerns well placed? I know there are lots of larger organizations than ours putting their eggs in this basket, so what influenced the choice of Linux over AIX? Thanks. ________________________________ Donald Grinsell State of Montana ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
