Hi I couldn't resist to make some minor comments.
First one is Linux, not AIX. Second, I think a properly configured Windows server can handle 1,4TB/day. And if they only know Windows I would choose Windows. But you get an opportunity to sell more hours if you choose AIX.. Third, 6MB/s average is not an OS fault. More likely is it a bad design and/or poor hardware. And last, 72 hour to re-install OS and restore DB does not make me think that theese guys know what they are doing. //Henrik -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paul van Dongen Sent: den 30 augusti 2007 15:01 To: ADSM-L@VM.MARIST.EDU Subject: Once more Windows vs. AIX server Hello all, I know this subject comes again from time to time, but I was faced not with the dilemma, but with "how to say it": I've got a customer (long time customer, since 4.1) who is planning their upgrade. They are still at 5.2 level, and are going to 5.4.1. They are a Windows shop, and Windows is their choice of TSM Server platform. However, they faced some problems with it: First of all, their servers are getting old (each server is a 2 x PIII 800MHz, connected to a bunch of EXP arrays with various combinations of SCSI disks from 9GB to 36GB). This was good when they started using it, with something like 200GB/day transfers from their client machines. But now, with 900GB/day in a six-hour window, this setup is proving rather slow. Not only to transfer the client data to disk, but migration is also a pain at a 6MB/s average. Needless to say that their library (IBM 3584 with 5 LTO2 drives) is grossly underutilized performance-wise. Second, despite being a Windows shop, they had once trouble when they lost one of the servers, at a remote site, due to a hard disk controller failure. Counting everything from reinstalling the OS to restoring TSM DB, they lost some 72 hours. In conversations with the technical team, we talked about TSM Server on AIX. While their original plan was to get a new Windows machine that could handle their projected 1,4TB/day (in the next 3 years) average, the idea of a AIX machine was well received. Especially when we had about mksysb vs. Windows reinstall, raw devices, overall robustness of the platform and (most important) I/O performance. AND the customer technical team was willing to get through the painful process of exporting/importing historical data into the new server. Not being a pSeries specialist, I know that if you compare the two worlds, a pSeries machine have a LOT more I/O capability than a xSeries counterpart (considering comparable processor power. I don't want to upset anyone here, including the ones who would say that such comparison is absurd). Management had another opinion, however, mainly due to the price difference between the two machines, and I was told to prepare a report stating which would be the key advantages of a AIX machine as a TSM server. I wrote a report including the points mentioned above and some more (I/O performance, raw devices, quick etherchannel, easy expansion as they are targeting a p520, mksysb, LPAR, dynamic reconfiguration) but would like to hear from you if I forgot something really big that could be "the point" in such a decision. Thank you all ____________________________ Paul van Dongen IBM Certified Deployment Professional ITSM 5.2 & 5.3 ITWS 8.2 IBM Certified Storage Administrator - ITSM V5 SNIA Certified Professional ------------------------------------------------------------------- The information contained in this message may be CONFIDENTIAL and is intended for the addressee only. Any unauthorised use, dissemination of the information or copying of this message is prohibited. If you are not the addressee, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and delete this message. Thank you.
