Until you have to send information to a non-mainframe connected client in Tokyo, or make a powerpoint presentation on why you should be allowed to keep your job.
Um, no. That's an average MTF of 30 years for EACH processor. So while you may have some fail, the average will still be 30 years, even if you had (Not in an IBM box, by the way) more than 10 CPUs in a box.
Good argument, at least up until the 'dumb terminal' comment. They're just not used much anymore. They've been replaced mainly by a huge amount of IP-based network-connected PCs. (Less 3174s is a GOOD thing, trust me.) Add to that the lack of PC management in regards to connectivity and you (may) have a winner.
The advantage of Mainframes is increased uptime, not decreased data-loss!!!
I would agree, to a point. The amount of data lost would not depend on the mainframe, so much as the decisions of the Storage Management people and related hardware.
You still have to recycle the box when doing some critical operating system upgrades, not to mention the physical backplane replacements when Moore's Law has happened AGAIN.
Come to think of it, I can't imagine what kind of stale application you're speaking of if it's not had enough upgrades to it to require it being recycled.
Perhaps you were speaking of 'unplaned outages' or some such?
Speaking from the experience of a Fortune 40 company whoes backbone applications ran on a Himalaya, there ARE times when you need a (small) window to perform upgrades and fixes.
Such as a piece of software called ASK that I read about in a previous post.
Essentially, if a particular email address is not in your whitelist (a known email address) then it sends a reply back asking the sender to verify their email address.
Typical spammers, from my personal email experience, send email from phantom email accounts, so ASK would eliminate at least those from the start.
Once an email address verification is recieved there is an automatic entry onto your whitelist, and no further verification is done unless you manually remove it from your list.
"As response rates go down, the profitability of spam goes down, and people stop spamming."
I disagree. I think that the spam people will just crank out more and more spam, perhaps finding more unique ways to get into your inbox, or invade your connection.
What kind of geek relies on one computer for all their needs, anyway? Can't risk the downtime? What gives?
A true geek would ahve the requisite backups, either software or hardware, to replace the bulk of what would break should the tweak fail.
I'd like to think that having the necessary knowledge, prior to begining the task, is what keeps my computers out of the dumpster. Basically, if you don't know what you're doing, you probably shouldn't be doing it. And if you don't know what you're doing, you've probably been out of the game too long.
No, Win2k only shares out the drive that windows is installed to.
And unless you are on a LAN with login scripts, I'd get that 'unsharing' problem checked out. That's just not a normal single-PC environment you have there.
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Until you have to send information to a non-mainframe connected client in Tokyo, or make a powerpoint presentation on why you should be allowed to keep your job.
You're on crack. With the mainframe being a decent webserver, it serves whatever content you want. Most often, that's HTML.
Did you know that Yahoo.com, for example, uses OS390? I thought not...
Yes, 400 staff in two offices can be considered small potatoes, and I can relate because it sounds like the company (Fortune 40) I work for.
However, we have several thousand (60k+) customers that access our systems at any time. Not all at the same time, but every single day.
A real IT department is one that can avoid unplanned outages, regardless of size. No more, no less.
CICS logons are easilly trackable, as are TSO, Netview, Tivoli, SARView, etc., etc. What are your customers logging into that you can't track?
If you can't count the concurrent users, your Enterprise Systems and System Security folks must really, really suck.
You're on crack!
No company, other than a mom-and-pop outfit, purchases their hardware. At least not the big stuff, like a mainframe.
It's all leased now, along with support contracts that get re-negotiated every year. As a bonus, you can still write off the depreciation.
This article was not about old stuff that is still running, but about new mainframe technology.
Um, no. That's an average MTF of 30 years for EACH processor. So while you may have some fail, the average will still be 30 years, even if you had (Not in an IBM box, by the way) more than 10 CPUs in a box.
Quibble: IBM mainframes have not been water-cooled for several product generations. Last one I worked on was in '91. They're all air-cooled now.
:)
Other than that, you're generally on target.
While it does run Linux, it is not a flavor that you would run at home (at least not from my understanding.)
Good argument, at least up until the 'dumb terminal' comment. They're just not used much anymore. They've been replaced mainly by a huge amount of IP-based network-connected PCs. (Less 3174s is a GOOD thing, trust me.) Add to that the lack of PC management in regards to connectivity and you (may) have a winner.
A bit of trivia:
Yahoo uses a Sun front-end, but uses IBM's OS390 for it's DB.
The advantage of Mainframes is increased uptime, not decreased data-loss!!!
I would agree, to a point. The amount of data lost would not depend on the mainframe, so much as the decisions of the Storage Management people and related hardware.
I totally identify with what you're saying, being a mainframe geek for the last 13 years, but who wouldn't want a Sun E15k?
Application uptimes of more than 10 years...
You still have to recycle the box when doing some critical operating system upgrades, not to mention the physical backplane replacements when Moore's Law has happened AGAIN.
Come to think of it, I can't imagine what kind of stale application you're speaking of if it's not had enough upgrades to it to require it being recycled.
Perhaps you were speaking of 'unplaned outages' or some such?
Speaking from the experience of a Fortune 40 company whoes backbone applications ran on a Himalaya, there ARE times when you need a (small) window to perform upgrades and fixes.
I consider myself corrected.
I could find no mention of email forwarding on the website. Perhaps he has some personal experience with them, hence having to give them $10 to do it?
It's what they call a Free-Range classroom concept, with the final taking place at an event titled 'Spring Break.'
I'd get that sore in my mouth looked at if I were you.
Please be a bit more clear with your complaint.
I thought the parent was fairly well written, and understood it (at least I think I do.) Perhaps you could change my mind.
Yes, but there are MUCH better ways.
Such as a piece of software called ASK that I read about in a previous post.
Essentially, if a particular email address is not in your whitelist (a known email address) then it sends a reply back asking the sender to verify their email address.
Typical spammers, from my personal email experience, send email from phantom email accounts, so ASK would eliminate at least those from the start.
Once an email address verification is recieved there is an automatic entry onto your whitelist, and no further verification is done unless you manually remove it from your list.
"As response rates go down, the profitability of spam goes down, and people stop spamming."
I disagree. I think that the spam people will just crank out more and more spam, perhaps finding more unique ways to get into your inbox, or invade your connection.
Linux gamers have it easy because they only have like 5 games to choose from.
After that they have to start running some bastardized software to get the game to load.
Linux is one big tweak.
What kind of geek relies on one computer for all their needs, anyway? Can't risk the downtime? What gives?
A true geek would ahve the requisite backups, either software or hardware, to replace the bulk of what would break should the tweak fail.
I'd like to think that having the necessary knowledge, prior to begining the task, is what keeps my computers out of the dumpster. Basically, if you don't know what you're doing, you probably shouldn't be doing it. And if you don't know what you're doing, you've probably been out of the game too long.
I look at two things: frames-per-second, and how high I can crank the resolution.
If I can run GTA3 at 1600x1200 AND keep the fps up, then I've made good choices in harware and tweaking.
Exactly. Even if it's just a basic Linksys single-port router between the (broadband) modem and the PC (or hub, depending on your situation.)
No, Win2k only shares out the drive that windows is installed to.
And unless you are on a LAN with login scripts, I'd get that 'unsharing' problem checked out. That's just not a normal single-PC environment you have there.
That's funny. Can you explain why the US spent billions rebuilding several of those countries?
Now explain who came to *their* aid after 9/11.