The purpose of this blog is to stress the importance of Disaster Recovery testing. What made this topic important to me is that recently we completed a DR test for one of our clients. The DR test revealed that their system backup was bad, which came as a shock to the client. Understandably, the client was unhappy to pay for the test only to learn their DR plan could not work because the backup was bad. So, let’s stress the importance of understanding how to do a clean backup. I have included … [Read more...]
7 Unexpected Costs When You Buy A Used IBM i (iSeries/AS400)
The purpose of this blog is to highlight the extra expenses related to putting a used IBM POWER server into production. In my experience, all too often the buyer of used IBM POWER hardware is unfamiliar with the needed steps and related costs to put a used server into production. Disclaimer: IBM i is an operating system. iSeries and AS400 are names for IBM servers. I use them interchangeably to make it easier to find this information on the web. An IBM i 8202 user contacted me this week to … [Read more...]
Assess On-Premise IBM i (iSeries/AS400) Server Total Cost Of Ownership To Understand Your Options
The purpose of this blog is to identify the elements to make up the on premise server total cost of ownership so you can determine your options to upgrade to a new on premise server or move to the cloud to host your IBM I (iSeries/AS400) applications. Disclaimer: IBM i is an operating system. iSeries and AS400 are servers. I use them interchangeably to make it easier for users to find this information when searching on the web. Every day I speak to IBM i (iSeries/AS400) users to help them … [Read more...]
IBM POWER6/7 Users – Clock Is Ticking March 31, 2019 Deadline Looms
The purpose of this blog is to provide you a practical explanation of IBM’s plans to withdraw support and maintenance services for 8203-E4A, 8202-E4B, 8202-E4C and other IBM POWER6/7 servers. What Does No More Service and Hardware Support for POWER6/7 Mean To You? Really? On September 19, 2017 IBM announced its plan to terminate services for IBM POWER6 and most POWER7 servers. IBM wants you to know that they will discontinue hardware support for servers POWER 6 on March 31, 2019 and … [Read more...]
Start Preparing For End-Of-Life IBM i (iSeries/AS400) Server Transition
IBM announced in 2016 many iSeries/AS400 servers with hardware support end-of-life terminating on January 31, 2019. Clearly, many users that want IBM hardware support will be affected. As an IBM Business Partner, I have worked with many users to make transition plans since the announcement. What causes my concern for other users is that this last week I am seeing a surge in users that want to make changes. What I find alarming about this recent surge is that most users may not … [Read more...]
Regional Airline Moves Their IBM i (iSeries/AS400) Production Applications To Cloud400.
Our Cloud400 client has requested us not to disclose their identity. We can, however, tell you about their move from their IBM i (iSeries/AS400) production server to Cloud400. Disclaimer: IBM i is an Operating System for IBM POWER servers. iSeries and AS400 are IBM servers. I use them interchangeably to make is easier for users to find related content relevant to their searches. Regional Airline Running Production Applications On IBM 9406-520 A regional airline with over 100 aircraft … [Read more...]
Reliable. Redundant. Responsive. 3 Reasons Cloud Hosting Is WAY Better Than On-Premise
Sometimes bad events can lead to insight. That is what happened to me this week. Power Failure Results In 4-Day Delay To Final Repair. My company maintains older hardware that IBM no longer supports. One of my favorite client’s legacy Intel server with Windows 2003 failed on a Saturday afternoon due to power failure that affected their entire building. This server was flat non-functional. From what little information we could gather remotely, it took one of my top engineers and myself 4 … [Read more...]
Leasing’s Sneaky Tricks — Part 3 of 3
If you don’t know how leasing can hide sneaky tricks in their finance agreements, you may find out that you agreed to pay WAY too much money – certainly, a lot more than you ever figured. I want to show you what to look out for so you can protect yourself from these unsavory practices. In this part of the three-part series, I will cover: Sneaky Trick #7 – The “Last-Minute” Addendum to be Approved by the Directors Sneaky Trick #8 — Unlike Our Competitors, We Take a Bigger Residual … [Read more...]
Leasing’s Sneaky Tricks — Part 1 of 3
We are getting closer to that time of year when businesses are most active adding new IT hardware. Many finance these new acquisitions with lease financing. In the 1980s, I was in the leasing industry and saw first-hand many sneaky tricks that are still in use today. If you are unaware of them you may wind up paying WAY more than you ever expected and, unfortunately for you, you will have no legal recourse to get your money back. So, how do you protect yourself? Well, here’s what to look … [Read more...]
So You Have IBM i (iSeries/AS400) High Availability Replication Are You Good To Go?
The purpose of this blog is to highlight the importance of High Availability Monitoring, Problem Remediation, and Maintenance Services. Disclaimer: IBM i is an operating system. iSeries and AS400 are legacy IBM servers that run i5/OS and OS400 respectively. I use all 3 terms interchangeably to attract a wider audience on the web. If you are using High Availability (HA) to replicate your IBM i production environment to a secondary system – Congratulations on making a great move to protect your … [Read more...]