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

Posted on by Joe Hertvik

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 whether extra capacity will alleviate system bottlenecks.

This article goes over the basics of using TCoD, as well as some of the finer points of the program, such as how the different types of TCoD work, how you can use TCoD more than once, and how you can strategically use TCoD when you’re nearing the end of a lease.

You can check it out by clicking here.

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About Joe Hertvik

Joe is the owner of Hertvik Business Services, a service company providing written white papers, case studies, and other marketing content to computer industry companies. He is also a contributing editor for IT Jungle and has written the Admin Alert column for the past ten years. Follow Joe Hertvik on Twitter @JoeHertvik. Email Joe for a free quote on white papers, case studies, brochures, or other marketing materials.
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4 Responses to IT Jungle: Strategically Using Power Systems’ Processor Trial Capacity On Demand

  1. Tim Prostor says:
    November 28, 2012 at 11:07 am

    My IBM business partner is checking with IBM . . . but she believes Trial CoD is only for models 770 and higher (and not 720’s, 740’s, 750’s). Do you know anything about that?

    • Joe Hertvik says:
      November 28, 2012 at 12:55 pm

      I received a TCoD key for a Power6 550 earlier this month, so I can verify that IBM is doing it for the Power6 boxes.

      Here’s a direct quote from the IBM Powers Systems Capacity on Demand site that clarifies the machines that are covered. I also mentioned this in the article.

      POWER5 and POWER6 servers except the POWER6 595 can activate up to 2 processor cores and/or up to 4 GB of memory. POWER7 and the POWER6 595 can activated up to 8 processor cores and/or up to 64 GB of memory.

      HTH

  2. Richy Peebles says:
    September 17, 2013 at 10:26 am

    Hi Joe,

    Always enjoy your articles and post. I’m late getting in on this topic but it just became relevant to my situation. I was also told by my business partner that TCoD was not available for my Power 7 740. Believing what I read and not what he told me, I attempted to activate the trial. I ran into a error saying the VPD was invalid. Upon further review, I found that all 8 processors were activated, but I can still only use 2 due to licensing. My BP told me that they always activate all the processors on these smaller express models. If that’s the case, how can I take advantage of a great offering like TCoD? We are considering licensing at least 1 more and possible 2, but would like to see the ROI. Do you have any suggestions.

    Thanks,
    Richy

    • Joe Hertvik says:
      September 25, 2013 at 10:06 am

      Not sure I have the answer to that one. I’d check with your IBM rep. It may be they don’t offer TCOD on the smaller models.

      I think it’s great they deliver the systems now with all processors activated. What I find unusual however, is they only do this for the smaller systems. They don’t do it for the larger systems, like the 770s. Anybody know why that would be>

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