First things first – Why System “z”?

“z”
Stands for zero downtime, with the machines being designed with full redundancy to ensure continuous operations.

CP
Central Processor

ICF
The Internal Coupling Facility – The hardware and software that turns an IBM mainframe Base Sysplex system into a Parallel Sysplex. It is made up of special microcode built into the machine, and the CFCC operating system (Coupling Facility Control Code) in a spare processor. Coupling Facilities can also be implemented as a stand-alone machine or in an LPAR logical partition.

IFL
The Integrated Facility for Linux is a central processor dedicated to Linux workloads.

MIPS
Millions of Instructions Per Second – used as a measure of a computer’s central processing unit performance

MSU
Million Service Units is a measurement of the amount of processing work a computer can perform in one hour. Most mainframe software vendors charge by MSUs consumed (“workload-based charging”) or by total MSU system capacity.

zAAP
The IBM System z Application Assist Processors provides an attractively priced execution environment for new web-based applications and SOA-based technologies.

zIIP
The IBM System z Integrated Information Processor is available on all System z10 and System z9 servers. It is designed to help free-up general computing capacity and lower overall total cost of computing for select data and transaction processing workloads for business intelligence (BI), ERP and CRM, and select network encryption workloads on the mainframe.

See also:  SDS, Dictionary of the Mainframe World (an exhaustive reference of 6,000 words, phrases, and abbreviations)

Softek™ Replicator software provides an efficient, reliable method to help ensure usable data recovery regardless of storage vendor or server platform. In doing so, it enables any data protection budget to stretch further.

In addition to being essential for disaster recovery, Softek Replicator software helps reduce downtime for backup windows while enabling centralised backup from remote sites.

Replicator software provides advanced volume-level replication for fast data recovery in widely used IBM AIX®, HP-UX, Solaris, Red Hat Linux® and Microsoft® Windows® environments and supports virtualised environments (VMware).

Offering flexibility with point-in-time copies for protection beyond backups, Replicator software can make two copies of source data at the same time – one copy can be a remote copy for disaster-recovery use while the local copy assists with backup processes.

Additionally, Replicator software’s write-order consistency provides continuous transfers of updated data to help minimise data loss and recovery time should an interruption occur.

ICT organisations with huge databases and shrinking backup windows can back up a point-in-time copy, thereby increasing availability. Data is replicated while applications remain active, and backups are carried out from the point-in-time copy during normal business hours. For centralised backups, production data can be replicated from remote locations to a central site where the backup is taken from the point-in-time copies.

Softek™ Replicator software delivers virtually uncompromised data integrity because the source data is not changed during replication. In a database environment in which the database may reside over multiple volumes, it is critical to treat all volumes as one logical entity.

Replicator software does this not only by grouping volumes together but also by ensuring the correct write order for all data. With staging areas on both the primary and secondary servers, Replicator software helps ensure that the data is in a usable state for continuous availability.

Softek Transparent Data Migration Facility (TDMF)

Softek TDMF is designed to move data between multivendor storage arrays without application outages. It is a host-based software that helps enable local or long-distance data migration at the volume level and supports IBM z/OS®, Microsoft® Windows®, UNIX® and Linux® environments.

Reasons for Data Migration

• Operational infrastructure (optimisation)
• Relocation
• Storage consolidation
• End of storage lease
• Server equipment replacement
• Storage equipment replacement (technology refresh)

Features

• Patent-pending non-disruptive Dynamic Swap migration – Transparent cutover to new storage without application outage
• Dynamic configuration – Volumes can be included or excluded at virtually any time
• Throttled migration – Low impact to applications on the server
• Data Mobility Console feature – Central management console to manage migrations across all major platforms
• Works seamlessly with (or without) a volume manager or file system – Host-based offering ensures support for all arrays
• Large scalability – Volume grouping enables easy migration of thousands of volumes

Enhanced availability and recoverability with Softek TDMF z/OS add-on modules

• Point-in-time (PIT), perpetual point-in-time (PPIT), offline volume access (OVA) and Transmission
• Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
• Helps reduce the risk and cost associated with data migration on a multivendor, multiplatform solution
• Facilitates protection against data corruption and loss by tracking and validating the data migrated

See also: Data Mobility Services – Softek Replicator (PDF file 64kb, opens in new window)

Mainframe vendors are few and far between, and very few of them would have 30 years of experience in dealing with mainframe systems.

Since 1979, Computer Merchants has been dealing with large systems.

We can help you with many of your mainframe requirements:

• Our systems come complete with IBM Maintenance Service Qualification (MSQ) which takes the worry out of moving a machine from one site to another.
• We can offer support for your mainframe environment, either through IBM or if you so desire, through a third party service provider.
• We can help you with upgrades to your existing environment, whether it’s an additional channel card or a complete processor book.

We can assist you if you need a short term rental, or a long term purchase – be it for a data centre transition or a DR requirement. Call us on 1800 777 111.

Rows and rows of 3494 tape libraries are also an impressive sight and a reminder of the changing landscape of storage technology. Comparing a 3590-B1A drive with a cartridge capacity of 10GB with a current 3592 cartridge at up to 3TB means you can store nearly a whole frame full of 3590 carts onto one 3592 cartridge (using 3:1 compression).

Of course as data requirements grow, we’re sure that even 3TB will be seen as insignificant in the not too distant future, meaning that future proofing your storage is very important.

IBM has this covered with the most recent TS1130 tape drives still being compatible with the 3494 libraries. The 3494 libraries including 3590 and 3592 drives, are readily available on the broker market and may make good sense for you if you are running out of storage capacity.

Talk to us about an upgrade to your existing library. Or maybe we can help you with a transition to an IBM 3584, making some savings with a smaller footprint and reduced maintenance costs. We have plenty of experience in this area and can help you with your requirements.

Energy supply, consumption, and environmental impact are now part of the IT decision process

As energy costs rise and concerns for the environment make the front page, IT managers have a new responsibility in addressing energy efficiency concerns in the IT infrastructure. Executives have always been focused on business growth. But what if your data centre can’t support expansion due to power and cooling limitations or spiraling energy costs?

Solving that problem falls to the IT manager and adding more servers is not the answer

There are numerous challenges involved such as:

• your utility may not have power available;
• your CFO may tell you that energy costs are too high or
• you may not have the necessary cooling capacity in your data centre.

A new focus on IT energy efficiency – building the “green” data centre

Data centre power and cooling requirements top the list of today’s green IT initiatives

Keeping the IT infrastructure adequately cooled and operating efficiently is paramount to a green IT strategy. Careful planning and thoughtful implementation is one way to ensure data centre success.

Another is the selection of the right hardware – so strongly consider storage and servers designed around power efficiency technologies and capabilities.

Explore the IBM solutions to this IT challenge

IBM has been leading the challenge for a green environment

In August 2007 they moved the workload from 3,900 of its own servers to 30 virtualised System z9 mainframes running Linux. They anticipated saving more than US $2 million in energy costs by reducing power consumption by 80%. Now that’s putting your money
where your mouth is!

And to demonstrate out of the box thinking, in Switzerland IBM were part of a solution that used waste heat from a large data centre to heat a local public swimming pool. Talk about a great community service – a service that is not quite so necessary in our home town of Brisbane, but for our southern friends it could be worth considering!

See the IBM Project Big Green Press Room for the lastest green data centre initiatives.

Highlights of December 2005

• IBM iSeries Technical Update 2005
• Hardware Management Consoles – A One Minute Guide
• IBM Support Line
• How To Reset The Dedicated Service Tools Password 
• Buying Hardware From Computer Merchants
• How We Streamline Getting Your Hardware Through Customs
• ROLTP, rPerf, CPW, SPEC – Which Performance Chart? 
• IBM 2074 Console Support Controller 
• IBM RS/6000 Servers Are Renowned For Their Reliability

And don’t forget, you can check out our past and present newsletters on the Archive page.

z800 – 2066

Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU
 0E1  41+IFL      7 |  0X2     160     28 |  002     350     60
 0A1      80     13 |  001     192     32 |  003     499     84
 0B1     115     20 |  0A2     259     44 |  004     636    108
 0C1     143     25 |

z890 – 2086

Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU
 110      26      4 |  210      50      8 |  310      74     11
 120      46      7 |  220      89     13 |  320     131     20
 130      88     13 |  230     170     26 |  330     250     38
 140     110     17 |  240     212     32 |  340     313     47
 150     172     26 |  250     332     50 |  350     489     74
 160     210     32 |  260     406     62 |  360     597     91
 170     366     56 |  270     707    107 |  370    1040    158

Model   MIPS    MSU
 410      97     15
 420     172     26
 430     328     39
 440     410     62
 450     642     97
 460     783    119
 470    1365    208

z900 – 2064

Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU
 101     239     41 |  1C1     250     43 |  2C1     303     52
 102     449     78 |  1C2     476     83 |  2C2     575    100
 103     645    112 |  1C3     687    119 |  2C3     830    144
 104     829    143 |  1C4     890    153 |  2C4    1073    184
 105    1002    173 |  1C5    1085    187 |  2C5    1305    224
 106    1163    199 |  1C6    1271    217 |  2C6    1526    260
 107    1312    225 |  1C7    1449    247 |  2C7    1736    296
 108    1447    245 |  1C8    1621    276 |  2C8    1940    330
 109    1563    265 |  1C9    1781    302 |  2C9    2129    362
                    |  110    1934    327 |  210    2308    392
                    |  111    2079    350 |  211    2478    420
                    |  112    2217    372 |  212    2638    445
                    |  113    2347    392 |  213    2790    475
                    |  114    2470    410 |  214    2933    497
                    |  115    2586    426 |  215    3067    517
                    |  116    2694    441 |  216    3192    535

z990 – 2084

Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU
 301     450     77 |  312    4140    691 |  323    6818   1149
 302     853    147 |  313    4392    733 |  324    7068   1192
 303    1243    213 |  314    4629    772 |  325    7317   1234
 304    1620    277 |  315    4852    810 |  326    7567   1276
 305    1983    337 |  316    5060    844 |  327    7816   1317
 306    2332    395 |  317    5312    886 |  328    8065   1358
 307    2669    451 |  318    5564    827 |  329    8314   1398
 308    2990    503 |  319    5815    973 |  330    8563   1463
 309    3299    551 |  320    6066   1018 |  331    8812   1474
 310    3593    601 |  321    6317   1062 |  332    9060   1512
 311    3875    647 |  322    6568   1106 |

z9BC – 2096

Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU
 A0I      26      4 |  T01     242     34 |  V02     591     82
 B01      38      5 |  M03     249     34 |  S03     617     85
 C01      46      6 |  O02     253     36 |  Q04     640     88
 A02      51      7 |  L04     260     36 |  W02     663     92
 D01      59      8 |  U01     270     38 |  T03     692     95
 E01      70     10 |  P02     292     41 |  R04     718     99
 A03      74     10 |  V0l     303     42 |  X02     741    103
 B02      74     10 |  N03     314     43 |  U03     772    106
 F01      87     12 |  M04     323     45 |  S04     803    111
 C02      90     12 |  Q02     335     47 |  Y02     823    115
 B03     109     15 |  W01     340     47 |  V03     866    119
 G01     110     15 |  O03     372     52 |  T04     900    124
 D02     115     16 |  R02     376     52 |  Z02     936    130
 H01     130     18 |  X01     380     53 |  W03     972    134
 C03     132     18 |  N04     409     56 |  U04    1004    138
 E02     136     19 |  S02     421     59 |  X03    1086    150
 I01     150     21 |  Y01     422     59 |  V04    1127    155
 D03     169     23 |  P03     429     59 |  Y03    1206    166
 F02     170     24 |  T02     472     66 |  W04    1264    174
 J01     172     24 |  Z01     480     67 |  Z03    1373    189
 R0I     193     27 |  O04     483     67 |  X04    1413    195
 L03     200     28 |  Q03     492     68 |  Y04    1596    216
 N02     214     30 |  U02     526     73 |  Z04    1790    246
 S0l     216     30 |  R03     552     76 |
 K04     219     30 |  P04     558     77 |

z9EC – 2094

Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU | Model   MIPS    MSU
 401     198     28 |  705    2366    363 |  729   11075   1524
 402     387     55 |  607    2835    385 |  730   11376   1567
 501     387     53 |  706    3087    422 |  731   11678   1609
 601     468     65 |  608    3168    428 |  732   11975   1560
 403     567     80 |  707    3515    479 |  733   12272   1691
 701     581     81 |  708    3924    532 |  734   12569   1732
 404     738    103 |  709    4329    584 |  735   12861   1772
 502     752    104 |  710    4721    640 |  736   13154   1811
 405     905    126 |  711    5103    690 |  737   13446   1850
 602     914    127 |  712    5481    742 |  738   13734   1889
 406    1058    147 |  713    5850    795 |  739   14018   1927
 503    1103    152 |  714    6215    843 |  740   14297   1963
 702    1134    158 |  715    6566    893 |  741   14571   1998
 407    1206    166 |  716    6912    938 |  742   14846   2033
 603    1337    184 |  717    7254    985 |  743   15111   2067
 408    1346    185 |  718    7587   1032 |  744   15377   2101
 504    1436    197 |  719    7916   1077 |  745   15633   2135
 703    1656    229 |  720    8244   1127 |  746   15890   2168
 604    1742    240 |  721    8568   1177 |  747   16142   2201
 505    1751    240 |  722    8892   1226 |  748   16389   2233
 506    2052    279 |  723    9212   1274 |  749   16662   2265
 605    2124    292 |  724    9527   1314 |  750   16857   2295
 704    2156    298 |  725    9842   1353 |  751   17114   2324
 507    2340    317 |  726    10152  1400 |  752   17343   2353
 606    2489    339 |  727    10463  1436 |  753   17577   2381
 508    2615    352 |  728    10769  1481 |  754   17802   2409

“Fujitsu debuts powerful next generation of entry level servers with Mainframe-like performance and reliability”

“Sun‘s high-end servers and storage systems combine the power of Mainframe-like technology with the availability, scalability, and manageability you need to harness the benefits of rehosting.”

“(HP‘s)…solution has the ability to deliver Mainframe-like quality of service with a more agile, cost effective platform.”

Far from being a dinosaur on the brink of extinction, the Mainframe continues to deliver industry leading reliability, security and performance to its users offering 99.999% uptime.

Think about 99% uptime over the course of a year. It sounds good until you realize that means 87.6 hours (nearly 4 days) of outage!

IBM, through its mainframe, offers five 9′s availability

How does it do it?

With more than 40 years of experience, the Mainframe has been doing for a long time what seems to be “new technologies” on other platforms. For example, logical partitioning has been a mainframe feature for a long time. In the development of the mainframe, hardware, software, storage and network are designed for maximum application availability.

Mainframe continues to grow and develop, and may be the answer to many data centres environmental issues in the future. If you have a growing problem with Linux on an expanding array of Intel servers, perhaps you should give consideration to a Mainframe. Call us on 1800 777 111.

These machines are all available on the broker market and represent great processing value starting at below $500 / MIP. Our zSeries machines all come with IBM MSQ banding. This means that when IBM install the equipment, they will make sure that the systems are in good working order, just as they were when they were when they were packed up at their previous locations. This means no risk to you.

For more information on the zPCR rating have a look at the IBM website. If you have any questions on how the zSeries can fit into your production, test, development, DR or even legacy environment, give our mainframe team a call at Computer Merchants on 1800 777 111.

z890 – 2086-A04

The z890 offers a single model, the A04, and supports a wide performance range from sub uni models up to a 4-way multiprocessor. The z890 offers 7 general purpose CP sizes (1 full performance plus 6 sub uni’s). Each engine size is available in 2-way, 3-way and 4-way multiprocessors. 7 engine sizes across 4 engines gives outstanding capacity granularity over the 28 capacity settings.

Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR
   110      26  |    210      50  |    310      74  |    410      97
   120      46  |    220      89  |    320     131  |    420     172
   130      88  |    230     170  |    330     250  |    430     328
   140     110  |    240     212  |    340     312  |    440     410
   150     172  |    250     332  |    350     489  |    450     642
   160     210  |    260     406  |    360     597  |    460     783
   170     366  |    270     707  |    370    1040  |    470    1365

z990 – 2084-A08

The IBM 2084 Model A08 has from 1 to 8 processors, 16 to 64GB memory, 12 STI, 1 to 3 I/O cages, and 720 CHPIDS.

Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR
   308    2990  |    306    2332  |    304    1620  |    302     853
   307    2668  |    305    1983  |    303    1243  |    301     450

z990 – 2084-B16

The IBM 2084 Model B16 has from 1 to 16 processors, 16 to 128GB memory, 24 STI, 1 to 3 I/O cages, and 1024 CHPIDS.

Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR
   316    5060  |    314    4629  |    312    4140  |    310    3593
   315    4852  |    313    4392  |    311    3874  |    309    3299

z990 – 2084-C24

The IBM 2084 Model C24 has from 1 to 24 processors, 16 to 192GB memory, 36 STI, 1 to 3 I/O cages, and 1024 CHPIDS.

Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR
   324    7068  |    322    6568  |    320    6066  |    318    5564
   323    6818  |    321    6317  |    319    5815  |    317    5312

z990 – 2084-D32

The IBM 2084 Model D32 has from 1 to 32 processors, 16 to 256GB memory, 48 STI, 1 to 3 I/O cages, and 1024 CHPIDS.

Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR | Capacity   zPCR
   332    9060  |    330    1243  |    328    8065  |    326    7567
   331    8812  |    329    8314  |    327    7816  |    325    7317

z800 – 2066

Model   zPCR   MSU | Model   zPCR   MSU | Model   zPCR   MSU
 004     612   108 |  0X2     153    28 |  0B1     109    20
 003     480    84 |  001     181    32 |  0A1      75    13
 002     334    60 |  0C1     135    25 |  0E1      38     7
 0A2     249    44

z800 – 2064

Model   zPCR   MSU | Model   zPCR   MSU | Model   zPCR   MSU
 216    3303   535 |  116    2783   441 |  109    1567   265
 215    3163   517 |  115    2663   426 |  108    1445   245
 214    3013   497 |  114    2535   410 |  107    1305   225
 213    2855   475 |  113    2399   392 |  106    1151   199
 212    2688   445 |  112    2255   372 |  105     985   173
 211    2511   420 |  111    2105   350 |  104     809   143
 210    2327   392 |  110    1947   327 |  103     624   112
 2C9    2134   362 |  1C9    1783   302 |  102     429    78
 2C8    1932   330 |  1C8    1612   276 |  101     226    41
 2C7    1722   296 |  1C7    1434   247 |
 2C6    1503   260 |  1C6    1250   217 |
 2C5    1276   224 |  1C5    1059   187 |
 2C4    1041   184 |  1C4     863   153 |
 2C3     798   144 |  1C3     660   119 |
 2C2     546   100 |  1C2     451    83 |
 2C1     286    52 |  1C1     236    43 |

Bruce started with the company in 1998 to develop the open systems market. Our open systems team now consists of 7 sales specialists, focussing on:

• IBM System p (RS/6000),
• IBM System x (x86/Intel),
• IBM mainframe,
• as well as Sun and HP products.

Both Carl and Jas recently achieved 5 years of service at Computer Merchants

“I still feel like a ‘newby’ at Computer Merchants, given the depth of experience around me…”
said Carl.

And this may well be the case with the average tenure of current sales staff being over 7 years. If you want to work with a company that looks after its staff and want to benefit from an experienced sales team, then give the Computer Merchants team a go!

And well done Bruce, Carl and Jas!

Dear Margaret,I’ve just got to share! I visited a zoo today – haven’t they changed! Lovely glass windows to look through to beautiful rooms, no more of the harsh bars and ugly concrete enclosures. And very high tech you know! They can control the temperature so the animals don’t get too hot – or too cold. They measure how much food is being eaten and keep track of how the exhibits are performing. They can monitor the health of one of the animals just by pressing a button and don’t even need to be in the same room!

But guess what, I saw a dinosaur! I really wasn’t expecting it… but even more – the dinosaur was green. I had no idea! When I asked the zoo-keeper about the dinosaur they said they were the easiest exhibit to look after, and despite their size they gave the best performance and really didn’t eat a lot! I was really, really surprised!

Now I’m off to the library to learn more about it!

Mrs Zed.

Dear Mrs Zed,

Like you, there are many people who think the dinosaur is long gone. However, there are hundreds of them stuck away in zoos all over the world, quietly going about their business. You know that one single dinosaur can keep more zoo visitors happy than a whole zoo full of monkeys! And like you I was also very surprised to learn that the dinosaur was green.

Margaret

Eos offers solutions and services for Lotus Notes and Domino, IBM Web Content Management, IBM WebSphere Portal and IBM Workplace Forms, in addition to full-scale development, implementation and creative design services.

Eos works on business and collaborative solutions with Computer Merchants, and has offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. If you’re interested in finding out more, just call your Computer Merchants rep on 1800 777 111, and we’ll put you in touch with Lisa Kardash at Eos. www.eos-solutions.com.au

Success Story 

One customer recently needed to move a Mainframe workload from unsupported hardware to a new system, but the price of a new Mainframe server made this prohibitive. We supplied our customer with a refurbished Mainframe server at a fraction of the new system price.

The major benefit to you is the big savings you make and we guarantee the server for you backed by our experience in this area for 25 years.

Buying refurbished Mainframes is also low risk because of MSQ banding

What does this mean?

IBM has a policy called Maintenance Service Qualification, or MSQ. Under MSQ an IBM machine which is under IBM Maintenance, can be moved to a new customer almost anywhere in the world and IBM will still accept it for maintenance. IBM lets most of their operating systems travel with the used systems when sold.

Recent sales of refurbished Mainframes have resulted in customers being able to upgrade to supported versions of software without incurring the large capital expenditure of a new mainframe system.

If you like the idea of buying a refurbished Mainframe, then simply get in touch with your Computer Merchants sales rep.

IBM Disk Arrays Fiber

#1722-60U FASTT600 TURBO + 5 x 146GB FC DISK $12,365

IBM Processors

#5221 6 way 750MHz Processor $6,740
#5208 2 way 1.45GHz Processor $4,125
#5127 2 way 1.45GHz Processor $2,500

IBM Memory

#4454 8GB Memory Kit $4,450
#4445 4GB Memory Kit $1,250
#4490 4GB Memory Kit $800
#4453 4GB Memory Kit $700

IBM Disk Drives

#1968/3274 73GB 10k SCSI $595
#1969/3275 146GB 10k SCSI $790
#1979 dual U320 SCSI $400

IBM Features

#2975 10/100/1000 Ethernet (AIX 4.3) $550
#5701 10/100/1000 Ethernet $200

IBM – System – S/390

IBM 9672 X17 System S/390 Parallel Transaction Server – 174MIPS $65,000
IBM 9672 X27 System S/390 Parallel Transaction Server – 327MIPS $107,800
IBM 9672 X37 System S/390 Parallel Transaction Server – 474MIPS $150,600
IBM 9672 X47 System S/390 Parallel Transaction Server – 614MIPS $193,400
IBM 9672 X57 System S/390 Parallel Transaction Server – 749MIPS $236,200
IBM 9672 X67 System S/390 Parallel Transaction Server – 880MIPS $279,000
IBM 9672 X77 System S/390 Parallel Transaction Server – 980MIPS $304,700
IBM 9672 X87 System S/390 Parallel Transaction Server – 1072MIPS $330,400

IBM – System – zSeries

IBM 2066 0B1 System zSeries 800 Server – 115 MIPS $82,100
IBM 2066 0C1 System zSeries 800 Server – 143 MIPS $107,800
IBM 2066 System zSeries 800 Server – $5,000
IBM 2066 System zSeries 800 Server – $5,000
IBM 2064 0A4 System zSeries 900 Server – $672,900
IBM 2064 101 System zSeries 900 Server – 238 MIPS $330,400
IBM 2064 102 System zSeries 900 Server – 449 MIPS $929,700
IBM 2064 103 System zSeries 900 Server – 645 MIPS $535,900
IBM 2064 104 System zSeries 900 Server – 829 MIPS $638,600
IBM 2064 105 System zSeries 900 Server – 1002 MIPS $2,059,800
IBM 2064 106 System zSeries 900 Server – 1163 MIPS $2,393,700
IBM 2064 107 System zSeries 900 Server – 1312 MIPS $2,702,000
IBM 2064 108 System zSeries 900 Server – 1447 MIPS $2,977,700
IBM 2064 109 System zSeries 900 Server – 1563 MIPS $3,215,700
IBM 2064 110 System zSeries 900 Server – 1934 MIPS $3,977,700
IBM 2064 111 System zSeries 900 Server – 2079 MIPS $4,275,600
IBM 2064 112 System zSeries 900 Server – 2217 MIPS $4,559,800
IBM 2064 113 System zSeries 900 Server – 2348 MIPS $4,828,700
IBM 2064 114 System zSeries 900 Server – 2470 MIPS $5,080,400
IBM 2064 115 System zSeries 900 Server – 2586 MIPS $5,313,300
IBM 2064 116 System zSeries 900 Server – 2694 MIPS $5,539,300

IBM – Feature

IBM 9672 2303 Feature Parallel Channel Card $2,700
IBM 9672 2313 Feature Escon Channel Card $3,500
IBM 9672 5201 Feature Open Systems Adapter T/R or Ether $3,800
IBM 9672 2340 Feature OSA-Express Fast Ethernet $6,400
IBM 9672 2350 Feature OSA-Express GbE SX $9,000
IBM 9672 2351 Feature OSA-Express GbE LX $10,700
IBM 9672 5208 Feature OSA 10/100 Ethernet $6,400
IBM 2066 2319 Feature Ficon Express LX $6,500
IBM 2066 2320 Feature Ficon Express SX $8,300

IBM – Escon

IBM 9034 001 Escon Parallel to Escon Convertor $4,800
IBM 9033 001 Escon Escon Director $7,400
IBM 9033 004 Escon Escon Director $8,300
IBM 9032 002 Escon Escon Director $13,600
IBM 9032 003 Escon Escon Director $31,600
IBM 9032 005 Escon Escon Director $80,400
IBM 9037 001 Escon Sysplex Timer $4,700
IBM 9037 002 Escon Sysplex Timer $47,500

IBM – Disks

IBM 9392 B13 Disks RAMAC Drawer 5.67GB $900
IBM 9392 B23 Disks RAMAC Drawer 11.35GB $2,400
IBM 9394 002 Disks RAMAC Controller – 64MB, 4 Escon $6,000
IBM 9394 002 Disks RAMAC Controller – 256MB, 4 Escon $7,800
IBM 9394 003 Disks RAMAC Controller – 1GB, 4 Escon $9,800
IBM 9395 B13 Disks RAMAC Drawer 5.67GB $900
IBM 9395 B23 Disks RAMAC Drawer 11.35GB $3,500
IBM 2105 F20 Disks Enterprise Storage Server – 420GB $30,700
IBM 2105 2125 Disks ESS 146.4GB 10k 8-Pack $13,300
IBM 2105 2144 Disks ESS 72GB 15K 8-Pack $13,300
IBM 2105 2143 Disks ESS 36GB 15k 8-Pack $3,400
IBM 2105 3011 Disks ESS Escon Feature $2,000
IBM 2105 3012 Disks ESS Escon Enhance Feature $4,100

IBM – Tape

IBM 3490 A10 Tape Controller – 2 Parallel Channel $8,300
IBM 3490 A10 Tape Controller – 2 Escon Channel $14,600
IBM 3490 A20 Tape Controller – 2 Parallel Channel $10,000
IBM 3490 A20 Tape Controller – 2 Escon Channel $16,300
IBM 3490 B20 Tape Tape Unit – 2 TransPorts $7,800
IBM 3490 B40 Tape Tape Unit – 4 TransPorts $9,500
IBM 3490 C22 Tape Tape Controller – 1P, 2 TransPorts $9,500
IBM 3490 C22 Tape Tape Controller – 1E, 2 TransPorts $13,300
IBM 3490 D42 Tape Tape Controller – 1P, 2 TransPorts $7,800
IBM 3490 D42 Tape Tape Controller – 1E, 2 TransPorts $16,300
IBM 3590 A00 Tape Escon Controller – 1 Port $4,300
IBM 3590 A50 Tape Escon Controller – 2 Port $12,000
IBM 3590 A60 Tape Escon Controller – 2 Port $30,900
IBM 3590 A14 Tape Frame to House Up to 4 x 3590s $13,700
IBM 3590 B11 Tape Tape Unit With Autoloader $11,200
IBM 3590 E11 Tape Tape Unit With Autoloader $25,700

IBM – Communications

IBM 3745 130 Communications Front End Processor $3,500
IBM 3745 150 Communications Front End Processor $3,500
IBM 3745 170 Communications Front End Processor $4,300
IBM 3745 210 Communications Front End Processor $8,600
IBM 3745 310 Communications Front End Processor $17,200
IBM 3745 410 Communications Front End Processor $10,300
IBM 3745 610 Communications Front End Processor $25,700
IBM 3745 1561 Communications Channel Adapter $1,400
IBM 3745 1563 Communications Channel Adapter $1,400
IBM 3745 4720 Communications Low Speed Scanner $1,400
IBM 3745 4721 Communications Low Speed Scanner $1,400
IBM 3745 4740 Communications High Speed Scanner $1,600
IBM 3745 4741 Communications High Speed Scanner $1,600
IBM 3745 4770 Communications Token Ring Adapter $1,400
IBM 3745 4771 Communications Token Ring Adapter $1,400
IBM 3745 4780 Communications Ethernet Adapter $8,600
IBM 3745 4781 Communications Ethernet Adapter $8,600
IBM 3745 4911 Communications LIC-1 $300
IBM 3745 4931 Communications LIC-3 $600
IBM 3745 7100 Communications 4MB Main Storage $1,800
IBM 3745 7101 Communications 8MB Main Storage $3,500
IBM 3172 001 Communications Interconnect Controller $1,800
IBM 3172 003 Communications Interconnect Controller $2,600
IBM 3172 2001 Communications Parallel Channel Feature – MOD 3 $900
IBM 3172 2210 Communications Token Ring Feature – MOD 3 $600
IBM 3172 2220 Communications Ethernet Feature – MOD 3 $600
IBM 3172 2501 Communications Parallel Channel Feature – MOD 3 $3,500
IBM 3172 2801 Communications Escon Channel Feature – MOD 3 $6,000
IBM 3172 2235 Communications Token Ring Feature – MOD 3 $800
IBM 3172 2245 Communications Ethernet Feature – MOD 3 $800

IBM – Controllers

IBM 3174 01L Controllers Control Unit – Local, Parallel Attach $1,400
IBM 3174 11L Controllers Control Unit – Local, Parallel Attach $1,800
IBM 3174 12L Controllers Control Unit – Local, Escon Attach $9,500
IBM 3174 21L Controllers Control Unit – Local, Parallel Attach $3,500
IBM 3174 22L Controllers Control Unit – Local, Escon Attach $12,400
IBM 3174 01R Controllers Control Unit – Remote $700
IBM 3174 11R Controllers Control Unit – Remote $1,100
IBM 3174 51R Controllers Control Unit – Remote $500
IBM 3174 61R Controllers Control Unit – Remote $600
IBM 3174 81R Controllers Control Unit – Remote $700
IBM 3174 3044 Controllers Token Ring Card $600
IBM 3174 3103 Controllers Terminal Multiplexor Adapter $200
IBM 3299 002 Controllers Terminal Multiplexor Adapter $200
IBM 3299 032 Controllers Terminal Multiplexor Adapter $700

IBM – Printers

IBM 6252 D12 Printers 1200LPM Printer $2,600
IBM 6262 012 Printers 1200LPM Printer $6,000
IBM 6262 014 Printers 1400LPM Printer $6,900
IBM 6262 022 Printers 2200LPM Printer $15,500

The planned AIX release will allow full binary compatibility with previous releases of AIX 5L, and will work on any hardware supported by AIX6 including POWER4, PPC970, POWER5 and POWER6.

AIX6 is synergistic with the naming of the new server range POWER6 and again IBM has proven that their roadmap provides ease of upgrade and a long life for your investments. The AIX planned enhancements will provide a tremendous step forward.

Helping to improve IT infrastructure efficiency through consolidation of multiple workloads on fewer servers, tightened security through new tools and security infrastructure and improved application availability through features designed to provide continuous availability.

The following are some of the features predicted to be available:*

• Partition Mobility
• Workload Partitions
• Application Mobility
• Virtual Shared Pools
• Processor Recovery
• Granular CUoD now billed by the minute

One of my favourites is the planned AIX Live Mobility. This allows the movement of a running workload or partition from one server to another which will help to avoid outages, providing multi-system workload balancing. How amazing is that!

Download Links For AIX

You can now access the first ever ‘Open Beta’ web download for an AIX release. Go have a squiz, test it and see what everyone’s getting excited about.

For more information and to download the code:
https://www14.software.ibm.com/iwm/web/cc/earlyprograms/ibm/aix6beta/

For more details on the AIX 6 preview:
http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/aix/6/preview.html

Some of the above features are only available in conjunction with POWER6 hardware.

*The above is a “Statement of Direction”, and is subject to change by IBM.

HP Servers

HP rp7400 with 2 x 440MHz CPU, 4GB Memory, 2 x 73GB Drives $4,320
HP rp5470 with 2 x 875MHz CPU, 4GB Memory, 2 x 73GB Drives $8,240
HP Superdome with 4 x 1GHz CPU, 16GB Memory, 4 x 73GB Drives $83,250

HP CPUs

HP AB534A 800MHz PA-8900 dual CPU for rp3410/rp3440 Servers $6,440
HP AB527A 1GHz PA-8900 dual CPU for rp4440 Server $8,790

Sun CPUs – suitable for models V440, V490, V880, V480

X7445A for Sun V440 CPU/Memory board with 1 x 1.593 GHz CPU, 4GB Memory $5,150
X7451A-Z for Sun V445 CPU/Memory board with 1 x 1.593GHz CPU, 2GB Memory $5,420
X7269A for Sun V490 CPU/Memory Board with 2 × 1.2GHz CPU, 8GB Memory $14,480
X7272A for Sun V480/V880 CPU/Memory Board with 2 × 1.2GHz CPU, 8GB Memory $15,760
X7270A for Sun V490/V890 CPU/Memory Board with 2 × 1.35GHz CPU, 8GB Memory $19,150
X7273A for Sun V490/V890 CPU/Memory Board with 2 × 1.5GHz CPU, 8GB Memory $21,930

Sun Memory – suitable for models Netra 240, 440, Sun Blade 1500, V125, V210, V240, V250, V440

X7602A Sun 512MB Memory Expansion Kit $360
X7603A Sun 1GB Memory Expansion Kit $450
X7702A Sun 512MB Memory Expansion Kit $360
X7703R Sun 1GB Memory Expansion Kit $420
X7704A Sun 2GB Memory Expansion Kit $760

Sun Memory – suitable for models V880, V490, V890, V1280, E6900, E4900, 280R, 12K, 15K, E20K, E25K

X7051A Sun 2GB (4x512MB DIMMs) Memory $550
X7053A Sun 1GB (4x256MB DIMMs) Memory $380
X7056A Sun 4GB (4x1GB DIMMs) Memory $1,680
X7058A Sun 8GB (4x2GB DIMMs) Memory $6,170

IBM Mainframe

#2320 FICON Express SX $7,200
#3320 FICON Express2 SX (4-port) $17,800
#2319 FICON Express LX $5,300
#3319 FICON Express2 LX (4-port) $17,030
#1366 OSA-Express 1000BASE-T Ethernet $10,000
#3366 OSA-Express2 1000BASE-T Ethernet $14,600

IBM System p – I/O Adaptors

#2975 10/100/1000 ethernet $980
#5701 10/100/1000 ethernet $550
#5706 2-port 10/100/1000 ethernet $690
#5712/#1974 U320 SCSI adapter $690
#6228 Fibre Channel adapter $470
#6239 Fibre Channel adapter $1280
#5716 2Gb FC adapter $1280
#5758/#1905 4gbps HBA $1570
#5759/#1910 2-port 4gbps HBA $2020

IBM Storage

DS4300 $5,750
DS4300 (turbo) $11,240
DS4800 $26,600
EXP700 $3,200
#4610 500GB 7.2K SATA Drive $1040
#4615 750GB 7.2K SATA Drive $1590
#5207 146GB FC Disk $820
#5208 300GB FC Disk $1200
#5213 73GB 15K Disk $730
#5214 146GB 15K Disk $1200
#5222 146GB 10K Disk $1280
#5223 300GB 10K 2Gb Disk $1510
#5414 146GB 15K 4Gb Disk $1500
#5415 300GB 15K 4Gb Disk $1830

“Delivering great personalized service since 1979, our people, values and systems guarantee you are happy with the end result.”

Our Mission Statement was developed by our current Managing Director, David McDade who has always believed that our people come first.

With this in mind, it is with much sadness that we are about to see one of our most valued people retire. Yes, David McDade has decided that it’s time to improve his golf handicap and practice his forehand skills at the local tennis club.

A good business does not become a good business by accident

It starts with great people and to that extent we take off our hat to David. David always believed in his people who collectively managed to turn Computer Merchants into a business that continues to go from strength to strength.

Today Computer Merchants is one of IBM’s most successful Business Partners

Computer Merchants began trading used IBM hardware in 1979. David began working as a sales representative for Computer Merchants back in late 1984 when the company was only 5 years old and moved on to Managing Director in 1992.

Back then, we pretty much only dealt in IBM equipment. These days, with David at the helm, our strengths are across all the IBM products ranges (IBM System i, IBM System p, IBM System z, IBM System x, IBM Storage and IBM Software) as well as Sun Microsystems, Cisco, HP, Lenovo and High Availability Solutions.

Computer Merchants became David’s family away from home

He was instrumental in setting up systems and procedures that form the basis of our business today.

One area where David demonstrated his care for our staff was when he moved our achiever’s trip from being a sales target to a Nett profit target. This meant that all staff shared in the success of Computer Merchants.

David’s way of saying thank you is to share a fun time away with everyone’s family at a resort where we can all get together and enjoy ourselves. Last year’s trip included about 60 people all up for a weekend away at Twin Waters resort on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. This is a tradition that is sure to continue.

It’s The People

At Computer Merchants, under David’s guidance, we acknowledge that it’s all the people in the business who contribute to the success of it. WHY? Because to David, he understood that it’s not just a sales representative who managed to make a sale that makes us successful, it’s the combination of every person involved in our business:

• the logistics staff that coordinated the pickup or delivery,
• the warehouse staff who packed & shipped the goods,
• the accounts staff who organize invoicing and
• the production staff who performed the engineering.

It truly is shared success

In addition to our Christmas parties for our customers, David introduced our “Suppliers Christmas Party”. David realized that our suppliers were just as important as our customers and each year we invite everyone from our vendors to our insurance agents and office cleaners, essentially anyone who’s contributed to the success of our organization.

David has always been proud and passionate about Computer Merchants. Today, we still trade with many of the same customers that David began dealing with some twenty something years ago. It’s been quite humbling to hear many past customers, suppliers and staff who have heard of David’s retirement tell us they want to be part of any celebration we have for him.

One senior IBM manager best put it by saying,

“you’d probably fill the whole of the Brisbane Convention Centre when you farewell David”

The Computer Merchants Family 

David, it never mattered how busy you were, you have always taken the time to help each of us grow and develop. You’ve always taken a genuine interest in every single person along the way. You have shown us that we are an important part of the Computer Merchants family.

Of course David wouldn’t have been able to achieve any of his remarkable accomplishments without the ongoing love, support and commitment from his beautiful wife Majella and his two boys Michael and Jonathan. We know Majella is excited at the prospect of having her husband on hand to get that long list of jobs done! The boys will be glad to spend more time with Dad as well.

David, on behalf of all of us we sincerely wish you all the very best in your retirement. You have worked long and hard to make Computer Merchants the success story it is today. Based on your framework, we can only go from strength to strength.

Everyone here thanks you for your guidance and friendship. Enjoy the fishing, tennis and golf – you truly deserve it.

Phew!  . . . almost half way through the year and it really doesn’t seem like it was that long ago I was sunning myself on the beach at Christmas. Now alas, the winter is upon us and the darker shorter days are here.

However, for those eternal summer sports fans, there is still cricket. The World Cup Cricket has just
finished. And it went very well for Australia, with winds against South Africa (2), Sri Lanka and Ireland. Unfortunately no giant killing here, the Irish minnows were well and truly beaten by Australia but they did manage a fantastic win over Pakistan & Bangladesh and a tie with Zimbabwe.

And Yes I do qualify to support the Irish (can’t you tell?) and it’s a good way out of the England V Australia debate! And when it comes to New Zealand, well we all want to beat the kiwi’s EVEN the Irish, so I’m on safe ground there.

And the news from Interaction is all good

. . . In March we had the first Interaction meeting in Canberra. Not only was the meeting well attended by the growing System z members in Canberra, but we had Mark Latchford, VP Server Technology Group (STG) and Jeff Ferdinands, BUE (Business Unit Executive) STG both attend the meeting.

Subsequently we have held the second Canberra meeting, on May 8. John Crooks from IBM, was the primary speaker here. John has worked with IBM for 38 years and gave a very intriguing presentation on the changing role of the mainframe to embrace more workloads.

This regional group is going from strength to strength so if you have an interest in the System z, get a long to a Canberra meeting

Queensland had two firsts in May

1. The first meeting of the year and
2. The very first presentation from Microsoft at an Interaction meeting.

The speaker, Charles “Chuck” Sterling, presented on some of the more practical features of Vista including:

• tighter security measures,
• easy(er?) remote access,
• user access control and
• sharing and collaboration.

The session was extremely well received and we will be asking Chuck back to present on Office 2007 very soon.

Sydney also had a regional meeting in May

Ngoc-Tram Hoang, from The Australian Manufacturing Worker’s Union, presented on WebFacing, and converting a legacy application using IBM websphere tool set. This was a very well receive presentation and Ngoc was busy for some time after the presentation answering questions and relating her experiences.

This was Ngoc’s second presentation to the user group and it goes to show that Interaction members still like the technical orientated customer presentation. Many Thanks Ngoc!

Interaction is keen to expand this new liaison with Microsoft…

… to the point of including them in this year’s conference. We already have one confirmed speaker: Peter Watson, Microsoft Australia’s Chief Security Advisor.

So if you are interested in Windows security and Vista, get along to the October conference, I am sure you will be informed, well educated and well entertained.

 IUGC in New York

Michael Sumner (Immediate Past President) attended the annual meeting of IUGC (International User Group Council) in New York. This meeting had Presidents from SHARE and COMMON – USA, the European SHARE and Japan’s GUIDE/SHARE user groups.

A plethora of senior IBM executives also attended the meeting, including;

• Bill Zietler IBM Senior VP and Group Executive, Systems & Technology Group,
• Philippe Jarre Global Technology Services VP Global BCRS,
• Henry Bergmans Software User Group,
• Danielle Otteson IBM Software User Group Liaison,
• Susan Puglia -Tech Support and
• Andy Monshaw General Manager, Storage.

These execs briefed the delegates on initiatives coming from IBM and ideas on how user groups can better assist IBM.

Getting help with PR

We have recruited the services of a PR company to assist us with a number of activities leading up to this year’s annual conference, including a membership drive. Recognition PR is a well established communications company that specialise in assisting IT related companies.

Recognition will assist Interaction to develop creative and successful communications campaigns and other marketing initiatives. Look out for some of these changes in the next Interaction communication.

Membership drive

In June we embark on our biggest membership drive ever. We will be mailing up to 6,000 non Interaction members and encouraging them to join Interaction. If you are one of these non members I strongly encourage you to look out for your letter from Mark Latchford and sign up immediately.

Plans for this year’s conference are well under way

The ‘Call for Paper’s’ has gone out. If you haven’t seen it, I have reprinted the invitation below. We would welcome any of Computer Merchants customers to submit a paper as we and our members are always very interested in end user presentations.

Please remember if you see an invitation to an Interaction event, please circulate it to your colleagues, pin it on the notice board or even on your BLOG! We welcome all IT professionals and you do not need to be a member to attend your first regional meeting.

Interaction Conference Call For Paper

Interaction 2007 will be held on 22nd 23rd and 24th of October at the Sebel Albert Park Hotel Melbourne (formerly the Carlton Crest). We are pleased to invite you to submit papers for presentation at this conference.

The theme of this year’s Conference is: “Exploit IT for Business Advantage”

We seek a range of papers that will be of interest to both technical and management professionals who work with IBM products and
services. We are especially interested in “user experience” (case study) presentations as are our conference attendees – and priority will be given to responses indicating that you are prepared to give this type of presentation.

Speakers wishing to make other Technical or Management related presentations are also encouraged to nominate their paper.

To nominate as a speaker please send an email to info@interaction.com.au containing a session abstract and a brief personal bio.

Please visit our web site for any further information on any of these events. And you are also welcome to email for membership information or any other questions you may have.

Interaction will hold its first meeting in Canberra since the unification of Common and Share/Guide some 8 years ago. This meeting will be held at IBM in Barton and will have a focus on System z. Tuesday March 6th 11.30am.

Dates To Remember

• Feb 27 Sydney meeting. Crowne Plaza Hotel,
  Sydney 7.30 am start.
• Feb 27 Melbourne meeting. Crown Plaza Hotel,
  Melbourne 7.30am start.
• March – Date and venue to be confirmed,
  Brisbane meeting.
• October 22 – 24 2007. Interaction Conference
  Melbourne.

Please visit the Interaction web site for more information on these events.

You are welcome to email for membership information or any other questions you may have.