Category Archives: Hardware

What Happens to the Giving IBM i When You Terminate a Lease?

Flashing neon change sign

In my February 12th IT Jungle article on returning your IBM i machines to the leasing company, I discussed why it’s important to inventory your Power i box (an IBM Power system machine running the IBM i operating system) before returning it to the vendor. This is because it’s common practice to perform in-lease upgrades to Power i machines, where equipment is removed and replaced to add new capabilities.
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Comparing the PureSystems #10Kandcounting Standard Versus the Power i Standard and Vice Versa

IBM PureSystems 10K and counting picture--2-3-14

With IBM recently announcing that “IBM PureSystems family of expert integrated systems…have now shipped more than 10,000 units through the 4th Quarter of 2013”, is this a significant number compared against the number of existing accounts and installations for the IBM i family (Power 4 and above)? Continue reading

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ZD Net: IBM Q4 Mixed, Power Systems Sales Down 31%, Server Sales Tank

newspaper iconWhat’s happening with IBM Power Systems sales?

ZDNet is reporting that while IBM earnings were better than expected, revenue sales missed their target, and Power Systems revenue decreased by 31% from a year ago and overall server revenue decreased by 25%.
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Power System Purchase Strategies: IBM Just Offered Me a TIP Letter…Now What?

two tip jarsIf you’re working on a new Power system purchase and the IBM rep and business partner feel you’re close to purchasing, IBM may offer you a TIP letter to help you make a decision now instead of later.

A TIP letter is an IBM offer that if you buy a new or upgraded machine by a certain date, IBM will give you x amount of credit in IBM or business partner services on future purchases, as long as the specified purchase is completed and shipped by a certain date. A TIP can be used for new IBM hardware or software or to buy services from an authorized IBM business partner. It can’t be used to pay taxes and the used TIP amount will be paid out as a check. Continue reading

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Expect Delays When Changing IBM i Disk Cache Batteries

Expect two sets of processing delays when changing IBM i disk cache batteries. Continue reading

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Will Opening the CEC Cover Turn Off Your Power 7 System?

Be careful when you take the cover off your Power 7 IBM i Central Electronics Complex unit (CEC, commonly pronounced “Keck”). You could accidentally power down your entire Power 7 system. Continue reading

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IT Jungle: IBM Enhances Disk And Flash For Power Systems

From Timothy Prickett-Morgan at IT Jungle: We are winding down our coverage of the fourth quarter Power Systems platform announcements, and this week we take a look at the substantial enhancements for I/O controllers, disk drives, and flash storage that IBM … Continue reading

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Disk: Oh, How Cheap Thou Art…

Two things struck me today about disk: Went to buy some USB thumb drives for my users. I wanted to get 4 Gb drives so that they would only have the files we wanted them to have without giving them … Continue reading

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What Color is My LTO Tape?

One of my more popular articles, reposted on 9-14-13: Some of my technical cohorts and I were having a discussion as to whether you could tell what type of LTO tape you were holding by the color of the tape … Continue reading

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IT Jungle: Strategically Using Power Systems’ Processor Trial Capacity On Demand

IT Jungle just posted my latest article on using Trial Capacity on Demand (TCoD). TCoD is IBM’s program for allowing IBM i customers to test adding extra processors or memory to your system before you purchase, allowing you to determine … Continue reading

Posted in Hardware, IBM i hardware maintenance, Power hardware | 4 Comments

From the Admin Alert archives: Checking Cache Battery Status on IBM i Systems

As I’ve written about in several Admin Alert columns for IT Jungle, IBM uses batteries in its IBM i disk controllers to provide caching for its disk drives. The batteries’ useful life is about 2.5 – 3 years. To avoid … Continue reading

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