Hot Diggety! Keith Weitz was rumored to have written:
>
> I've been told to throw on another hat at work and need to learn some
> AS400 administration for a hosted client. Does anyone know if any
> good CBT's out there for an AS400 rookie or a good beginner's book?
Hi Keith --
Haven't been working with AS/400s at work in a while so couldn't
answer your questions. But I've got a nice model 170 sitting literally
next to me right now, at home. :-)
Honestly, your best bet is to a) get the cheapest AS/400 you can
get your paws on (couple hundred bucks, perhaps?), b) a few AS/400 admin
books, c) a reasonably recent-enough OS/400 (iOS) CD set, and then d)
work through installation tasks. In my case, the CD set came with the
AS/400, and worked out swell even if it was one minor version old.
From past experience, you may want to also consider learning
some scripting -- so that's an additional book or two for the AS/400 CL
(control language).
If you've got any IBM mainframe or AIX experience, some of the
terminology will be familiar. PTFs (aka patches), SSR, planar board,
DASD, and whatnot. Otherwise, dive in and learn fast. :-)
I'm afraid it's been so long now (some 20 years on after
originally learning) that I couldn't make a good recommendation for
AS/400 admin books but Amazon certainly has them listed. Easier to look
through the wares at a major bookseller (e.g. B&N, Borders, etc.) to see
if anything looks readable to you, and then look up recommended
alternative books online via Amazon for additional ideas.
My model 170 adventure (for a refresher) was a lot of fun.
Freight shipping set me back about $110, and it was one heavy as heck
box to drag inside even though this was the cheapest and lightest model
I could secure. But past there, the real fun started.
I also had some brand new tapes (both data and cleaning), some
refresher manuals (I'd forgotten a lot in the intervening years), some
PDFs from IBM's website (they are SUPER durned good on
documentation!!!), a notebook for my local site-specific notes, the
installation CD set for V5R1 maybe... and went to work. Soon had it up
and running on the network with all sorts of fun services.
Of course, I'd also previously worked with an IBM mainframe,
AS/400s, AIX boxes, and learned how to manage them all so the learning
curve was a lot less for me than it may be for someone completely new to
it all. But of the few books that I personally looked at, they looked
decent enough. Coupled with IBM's own documentation, it's hard to go wrong.
As smart as you are, if you solely depend on CBTs to pull this
off, I think you'll be really wincing when the time comes to solve
something 'for real'. Strongly recommend you get your hands dirty with a
box you can reinstall at any time.
*steps off soapbox*
-Dan
P.S. Just for the official record, my model 170 AS/400 system is my own
personal property, purchased from an IBM VAR in another state that
specialized in reselling used AS/400 hardware. I don't take company
equipment home except other than needed to fulfill my job (e.g.
corporate laptop, two factor auth, etc...) and only as approved.
I had to clarify this point to management once because it occurred
(coincidentally) shortly after the company unloaded their model 270s. :-)
After showing proof, management was satisfied I wasn't taking company
property home for unauthorized purposes.
(I had to laugh since I have *no* upper body strength for anything
bigger or heavier than the model 170!)
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