That's a fairly content free release as these come. Nothing about the actual architecture, clearly aimed at managers rather than techies, IBM does enterprise sales very well. But of course I'm more interested in the nitty gritty details (though I'll likely never be in a position to pull the trigger on a purchase like this). Funny how Linux is mentioned in the press release, and other platforms don't even rate a mention.
Funny how Linux is mentioned in the press release, and other platforms don't even rate a mention.
Because the other OSes which run on the hardware are so obscure that non-technies would never have heard of them. I'm morally certain CMS and z/OS (or whatever MVS is called these days) and VM are still in use, but Linux has the penguin and the media coverage. Therefore, it gets the inches.
Very true.. Though I recall the power7 stuff being released years ago as a very tech heavy event, and yet it seemed to go down without much of an impact as well (though the aix guys I worked with were convinced it was game changing). I think people who are invested (culturally/mentally)in ibm will continue to buy ibm (and no doubt be successful). I just don't see them growing any new markets.
I have participated in sales, and I did not want to get into hours long discussion (boring, and not really important) about what Power/AIX offers so I boiled it down for potential customers like this:
If you want the best with insane price level, buy into Power/AIX. If you are not really sure, please don't. You need to train administrators (with larger setups) - or prepare to shell in a lot of money, the hardware contains nasty licensing surprises, the hardware is rather expensive, and so on. When you get it running, it's insanely powerful indeed, and the platform itself nearly never screws up (if you tested properly for Monday parts), and the virtualization is insanely good in practice.
Some potential customers have bought Power/AIX, some not. The ones that did are still years after customers, and to my knowledge pretty happy. I believe IBM is actually gaining customers. Slowly, but they are. Those that made the choice knew what they got into, and are not going to change their views.
though the aix guys I worked with were convinced it was game changing
I was talking to an ibmer a while ago and AIX was mentioned. We agreed the platform had technical merits, and on a pure platform level was superior to x32/x64 but the network effects of commodity hardware had already won the platform game. No one writes software for any other platforms but intel/amd64. AIX lost for the battle, similar to the reasons betamax lost to VHS.
Never mind this specific release - you never hear about other platforms on System Z period. Linux got a s/390 port quite early on, and SUSE and Red Hat both support it, but no, Windows, Mac, BSD, etc. are unheard of in this world. You can mess with Fedora / Debian images for that architecture on your desktop using Hercules.
Comments
That's a fairly content free release as these come. Nothing about the actual architecture, clearly aimed at managers rather than techies, IBM does enterprise sales very well. But of course I'm more interested in the nitty gritty details (though I'll likely never be in a position to pull the trigger on a purchase like this). Funny how Linux is mentioned in the press release, and other platforms don't even rate a mention.
The architecture can always be found in the redbooks: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/RedpieceAbstracts/s... http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/RedpieceAbstracts/s...
Because the other OSes which run on the hardware are so obscure that non-technies would never have heard of them. I'm morally certain CMS and z/OS (or whatever MVS is called these days) and VM are still in use, but Linux has the penguin and the media coverage. Therefore, it gets the inches.
Very true.. Though I recall the power7 stuff being released years ago as a very tech heavy event, and yet it seemed to go down without much of an impact as well (though the aix guys I worked with were convinced it was game changing). I think people who are invested (culturally/mentally)in ibm will continue to buy ibm (and no doubt be successful). I just don't see them growing any new markets.
I have participated in sales, and I did not want to get into hours long discussion (boring, and not really important) about what Power/AIX offers so I boiled it down for potential customers like this:
If you want the best with insane price level, buy into Power/AIX. If you are not really sure, please don't. You need to train administrators (with larger setups) - or prepare to shell in a lot of money, the hardware contains nasty licensing surprises, the hardware is rather expensive, and so on. When you get it running, it's insanely powerful indeed, and the platform itself nearly never screws up (if you tested properly for Monday parts), and the virtualization is insanely good in practice.
Some potential customers have bought Power/AIX, some not. The ones that did are still years after customers, and to my knowledge pretty happy. I believe IBM is actually gaining customers. Slowly, but they are. Those that made the choice knew what they got into, and are not going to change their views.
This is my experience as well. IMO, Power/AIX has the most sophisticated virtualization available. IBM just has no idea how to market it.
I was talking to an ibmer a while ago and AIX was mentioned. We agreed the platform had technical merits, and on a pure platform level was superior to x32/x64 but the network effects of commodity hardware had already won the platform game. No one writes software for any other platforms but intel/amd64. AIX lost for the battle, similar to the reasons betamax lost to VHS.
Never mind this specific release - you never hear about other platforms on System Z period. Linux got a s/390 port quite early on, and SUSE and Red Hat both support it, but no, Windows, Mac, BSD, etc. are unheard of in this world. You can mess with Fedora / Debian images for that architecture on your desktop using Hercules.