System Failures
From: Charley Shanks
To: All
Just thought I'd take a little informal survey. Our shop is running a B60 model using 9332 DASD units for storage. In the last two weeks we have had six (count 'em, six!) separate and distinct DASD failures. Some have been related to what IBM calls the HDA (the disk itself). Some have been related to servo cards and some have been related to the servo track on the disks.
We have had to do two complete system restores from backups. And it looks as though we're about to do our third. The other times we were able to replace cards and pump the drives. We already have one of the Rochester big boys on- site, and IBM is flying in another one. This has been a disaster-in no minor sense! My past experience has always been that Big Blue is second to none in quality, and I have to admit that IBM's now doing everything humanly possible to rectify the situation.
My survey question is very simple. Has anyone ever heard of IBM hardware ever taking this kind of a hit-or worse?
From: John Lewis
To: Charley Shanks
When we were upgrading our B35 to an E35, which was done by an IBM CE, we lost all of our 9332s. Something went wrong when the CE tried to tell the system about the new internal DASD, which wiped out our existing DASD. We had about six high-level CEs out here trying to recover the drives (four 9332-600s), but without any luck. We ended up doing a full disaster reload and came out of the whole process OK.
From: Michael Brock
To: Charley Shanks
I have never heard of anything even close to that figure! Must be horrible!
From: Charlie McLean
To: Charley Shanks
When we started with a B35 we had four 9335 B01s and in six weeks had three HDA failures. We now run on EMC 935EXPs and 936s and have had one controller card replaced in two and a half years-no other problems. Downtime in nine months with 9335s was six days. Downtime on EMCs in two and a half years has been one and a half hours.
From: Charley Shanks
To: Michael Brock
It gets worse. Since my last message, we had another 9332 failure. After the last one, IBM replaced all servo cards and then mirrored all of the 9332s with 9336s. We got everything back up.and then we had a system failure at the bus level. IBM replaced our power supply and a few other miscellaneous things. Then we replaced all 9332s with 9336s. Then we did our fourth complete system restore. This morning it went down again....
From: Kris Ball
To: Charley Shanks
I feel for you. We've been through a total system reload before, when a 3370 attached to our S/38 wouldn't pump. Had to restore everything from backup. Thought we were almost done, so I left for vacation to Dallas, and as soon as I hit town I had to turn around and drive eight hours home.
Our backup saved off all the source, but no objects, so we spent the next two days compiling programs and recreating DFUs, queries, etc. Couldn't really complain, because I was the new kid on the block who thought she knew what she was doing when she rewrote the SAVEALL!
Moral of the story: Always, always check and double-check your recovery procedures!
From: Charley Shanks
To: Kris Ball
Luckily, our backups have been flawless. The only good thing to come out of our repeated failures is a system upgrade from a B60 to an E50, all new mirrored DASD, and an OS/400 upgrade to V2R2, all compliments of IBM. This may sound great, but considering that our company lost an estimated $1 million in sales because of system downtime for most of the month of November...we're still sucking wind!
More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.
TRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now! Request Now.
Forms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.
Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
LATEST COMMENTS
MC Press Online