iSeries Work Horses

[David Abramowitz]

This is more typical than you might think. At one shop a few years ago, I was working on an old "D20" when a power brownout occurred. This was a shop with multiple platforms, and I was the only person in the place who could even spell "AS/400". The bottom line was, that every system in the building went down except for the AS/400 which did not have a UPS. Evidently the internal batteries kept the thing going until power was restored. Dave

[Guest.Visitor]

I've worked on these systems for quite some time (as you have - 20+ years). I've experienced numerious power outages but Fire AND Flood?!!! These machines are my passion. It's a real shame IBM didn't have people like us to market these systems...they've made them the best but kept it a secret.

[Guest.Visitor]

These systems are remarkable! I just wanted to share a couple of interesting events I've experienced with two of my iSeries systems over the last few months. Actually, I acquired a few more grey hairs and a couple more scowl wrinkles but here goes anyway: Received a call from the folks at one of our remote plants (another state). They told me the AS/400 was smoking and they had pulled the plug. They said the smoke was so bad it was hurting their eyes. I contacted IBM service and they reported to the site within a couple of hours. The main power supply was replaced and the system IPL'd with NO failing components. Upon further investigation, I found the machine had not been IPL'd since 06/17/01. Received a call from the folks at a different remote site (another country). Apparently they had contractors working on the roof Thursday and they had dropped a piece of heavy machinery on the roof, resulting in a huge hole. Within a couple of hours, the rains came. Well, the contractors wouldn't work in the rain so they left. Also left was a huge gaping hole in the roof. It rained all night, thus going through the ceiling directly into the computer room. The iSeries was drenched and shut down when the power went out. The electrician unplugged the system and moved it to a dry area. He took the back panel off and placed a fan directly into the unit for the weekend. The next morning he came in, called me and we replaced the back panel and plugged the machine in. Well...the system came up without hesitation and NO failing components. Upon further investigation, I found the machine had not been IPL's since 10/08/01. The system even applied PTF's I had set to be applied at the next IPL in preparation for the V5R1 upgrade. WAY TO GO ROCHESTER!!!!

[Guest.Visitor]

I too have experienced (brief) power outages with the AS/400; that is, my home machine, an "old" model E04. It had started to make ugly noises, which a friend was able to determine was the battery unit. After he installed a new unit, it worked great! Moreover, the next time I had a brief power failure (less than one second), the machine just kept on running beautifully. The battery acts as a poor man's UPS! Of course I had to reboot the two PCs. Well, at least I can afford a real UPS for them! But the AS/400 is the BEST. Also, it had been warning me at every IPL that I needed to replace the battery, so the funny noises shouldn't have been a mystery. The excellence of this system is the IS World's best-kept secret.