Timothy Sipples wrote: > A tape drive is no longer a requirement to start and run z/OS -- thank > you, IBM!
Timothy, Could you outline the procedure for installing z/OS on a greenfield site z196 without a tape drive? Last time I installed z/OS on a brand new z10 at a new site, a 3590 tape drive was required to load the distribution tapes. What has changed? Thanks, Roger Bowler --------------Original message-------------- If you'd like to attach consumer-grade laptop hard disks to z/OS, go for it! There's a prolific poster to IBM-MAIN who has one idea how to do that. This company (no affiliation) has a couple other inexpensive ways: http://www.mainstorconcept.de/zdasd.html?&L=1 http://www.mainstorconcept.de/mfstor.html?&L=1 [A tape drive is no longer a requirement to start and run z/OS -- thank you, IBM! -- although there are many occasions when it makes sense to have tape drives and libraries, perhaps lots of them. "It depends."] Now, hard disk cheapness with your mainframe may or may not be a good idea. Your mileage may vary. Mainframes and z/OS are quite obviously designed and optimized for enterprise-grade computing, in the fullest definition of the term. When IBM has dabbled in storage products with somewhat fewer functions and less expandability (with correspondingly lower prices -- but without compromising quality), unfortunately, typically, too few of you have been buying those products. Moreover, the mainframe storage market is extremely competitive and has been for decades. This topic comes up from time to time and, frankly, I don't get it. "But I can buy a 1TB hard disk for my PC for $XX." Yes, you can. And you can even attach it, and many more like it, to your mainframe if you wish. (See above.) You can also install that hard disk in your missile's guidance system, in your space probe's scientific instruments, in your nuclear power plant's valve operating computer, and in your medical diagnostic equipment. You probably could, technically anyway. Should you? The fact is, these things really are different in many ways, starting with the misleading comparison between a spindle and a storage frame. They have different qualities: performance, environmentals, error rates, testing standards, control systems, caches, administrative functions, disaster recovery capabilities, storage management features, etc., etc. I know it's shocking, but it actually costs vendors a bit to provide those differentiated qualities and capabilities and to do the R&D to invent them. And if mainframes didn't have these qualities and capabilities, maybe they wouldn't be mainframes. But it's a free market, so if you aren't interested in those things, go for it! But thank goodness there are more (and higher quality/richer function) storage options in the world than consumer-grade PC hard disks. There are also endless arguments about whether a PC or a Macintosh is "better," and endless debates about pricing differentials. Let's stipulate that PCs are cheaper than Macs for sake of argument. That's interesting, even fascinating. Except there's one wee little problem: PCs don't (legally, reliably) run Mac OS X. Thus they're very different, and in other ways. Is running Mac OS X worth the price premium to you? It depends, but for increasing numbers of buyers around the world, yes, heck yes. As a reminder, whether or not I remind, I speak only for myself, especially when I'm controversial. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples Resident Enterprise Architect (Based in Singapore) E-Mail: timothy.sipp...@us.ibm.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
