Okay, you've given me a lot to consider. My first question is about Linux/390. I'm an avid linux user and I assumed from my experiences that the difference in underlying platforms is handled entirely by the kernel; userspace programs, with only a few exceptions, compile and operate similarly no matter the platform. The comments I'm reading here seem to imply that this isn't the case. Also, I'm not sure why the Hercules emulator keeps being recommended as an alternative to mainframe linux. Do linux installations in LPAR's on Hercules perform better than existing linux virtual machines, or am I missing something else obvious?
I'm sorry if these seem like stupid questions, but I have pretty much no experience with mainframes. I'm working with some people that have experience programming them, but we don't have anyone that's familiar with maintaining the hardware; I'm just willing to learn as much as I have to in order to get a working, maintainable, and scalable system with minimal hardware costs. As to the recommendation of buying new... We're officially a "Macintosh School" (according to our district superintendent), even though the majority of the computers are running Windows (under a massive Windows Server installation that's overseen by the Data Services department). We're lucky enough that the computer science lab is running on our own servers and not the district network; I'm very very hesistant to put in a purchase order with IBM on it (or any purchase order of a sizable amount) for that reason. We're pretty much at the mercy of Data Services, and if they declare that they can run our lab more cost-effectively or efficiently than we can, there's not really anything we can do. Before I go any further, I'll be sure to ask for the details of what we're being offered, and I need to specifically ask about... network interfaces, a terminal, hard disks, and installed operating systems. Should I ask about maintenance history as well? As for the financial aspects and condition of the system, it's coming from a large corporation that's based in our area, so I'm sure it's been well maintained while in service there. It would be going into a room that's already used for servers, so the A/C should be up to spec. However, are there any figures on the power usage of this machine? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
