[SunRescue] RE: mainframes in our midst...

[Jonathan Katz]

Ken wrote:
> Don't spend too much time poking fun at the mainframe fellow

But it's so much FUN! That and when I was here yesterday he
flat out said (to rouse suspicion?) "All your base are belong
to us!" ... and he plays Halflife on his PC during his lunch
break.

> DB2 is not an old-fashioned DB by any stretch of the imagination, VM/ESA is a very good, solid operating environment, that enabled multiple OSs to run on one processor complex (in the mainframe world, CPU maps to a box the size of a commercial refrigerator) at the same time (and PR/SM allows you to run multiple machine code levels ont he same machine, allowing you to try out new microcode for the CPU without needing a "test" machine, all you need is a test "partition"), and CICS, is well, quite efficient.

Exactly-- why own a data center full of one
machine when you can have a few dozen 4800s
or 6800s which can each be partitioned or
domained out into several smaller boxes which
fit the same functionality... and they're
faster, and suck less juice. Plus, you can't
hot-swap an ESCON connection, can you?
 
> I've worked with all of these products, and find them amazing. The mainframe can do things that are simply absurd on the departmental server level, and the overhaed involved in working in a mainframe environment is equally absurd for a departmental server. Each has it's place.

Yeah, but I like the new stuff... I'm biased, though.
 
> The E10K is a mainframe, running a near-mainframe level OS, IMHO. I am not slamming Solaris by any stretch, it is on course to reach mainframe-quality soon.

... so are all the new boxes-- they can all be split up/sliced-diced
any number of ways.

-Jon