OT : Fuck me that's a lot of computing kit innit?

[YTC449]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=1484

and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.
--
--
Robbo

Trophy 1200 1998
BotaFOF #19. E.O.S.M 2001/2002/2003/2004.
B.O.S.M 2003, 2004, 2005
FURSWB#1 KotL..YTC449
PM#7
.

[eric the brave]

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

The catch:

This machine is not supplied with an operating system, the successful
bidder will need to purchase the AIX O/S and *licence* from an accredited
IBM source. We will be happy to provide contact details to aid the winning
bidder in doing this.

[Wicked Uncle Nigel]

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, eric the brave

Post by eric the brave

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

This machine is not supplied with an operating system, the successful
bidder will need to purchase the AIX O/S and *licence* from an accredited
IBM source. We will be happy to provide contact details to aid the winning
bidder in doing this.

You could always run Linux on it (really!).

[Muck]

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=1484

Yep, as Nigel said, Linux.. I think they've got Power PC processors in
haven't they? There are only 6, so Linux can easily handle that.

[eric the brave]

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 00:08:55 +0100, Wicked Uncle Nigel did witter on

Post by Wicked Uncle Nigel
Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, eric the brave

Post by eric the brave

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

This machine is not supplied with an operating system, the successful
bidder will need to purchase the AIX O/S and *licence* from an accredited
IBM source. We will be happy to provide contact details to aid the winning
bidder in doing this.

You could always run Linux on it (really!).

I guess its all down to what you want to use it for.

[Timo Geusch]

Post by eric the brave
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 00:08:55 +0100, Wicked Uncle Nigel did witter on

Post by Wicked Uncle Nigel
Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, eric the

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Catego
ry=1484

Post by Wicked Uncle Nigel

Post by eric the brave

Post by YTC449
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I

have.

Post by Wicked Uncle Nigel

Post by eric the brave
This machine is not supplied with an operating system, the
successful bidder will need to purchase the AIX O/S and licence
from an accredited IBM source. We will be happy to provide
contact details to aid the winning bidder in doing this.

You could always run Linux on it (really!).

I guess its all down to what you want to use it for.

Home network server, obviously.

[BORG]

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 08:34:24 +0100, eric the brave

Post by eric the brave
I guess its all down to what you want to use it for.

Room heater, wardrobe, coffee table.
--
***@jryfutbi.pb.hx<--ROT13 it
Spam Trap in Header

GS850 Trike

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to
(a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks.

http://borg.no-ip.com

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember eric the brave

Post by eric the brave

Post by Wicked Uncle Nigel
You could always run Linux on it (really!).

I guess its all down to what you want to use it for.

Door stop; boat anchor; paperweight; landfill; a myriad of useful
functions.

[Ben]

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 00:06:35 +0100, eric the brave

Post by eric the brave

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

This machine is not supplied with an operating system, the successful
bidder will need to purchase the AIX O/S and *licence* from an accredited
IBM source. We will be happy to provide contact details to aid the winning
bidder in doing this.

Hmm, I work for someone who sells that, and I have access to the ISO
images...

[Verdigris]

Post by eric the brave

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

This machine is not supplied with an operating system, the successful
bidder will need to purchase the AIX O/S and *licence* from an accredited
IBM source. We will be happy to provide contact details to aid the winning
bidder in doing this.

That's why it's up for sale, and will be (relatively) cheap. IBM changed
their licensing structure and the cost of an AIX5L license for the S
series is significantly higher than for more modern machines.

Previously - AIX 4.3.3 - you got AIX for free with the server. Obviously
the cost of the OS was included in the price of the server. Now that IBM
are trying to accomodate Linus that won't work, so they dropped the prices
of the servers - by quite a lot - then charge for AIX separately.

There are versions of Linux which will run on PowerIV processors but I
don't think that these were ever provided for the S Series by IBM. Also,
the S series hardware is a bit different to the other RS/6000 or pSeries
servers, which might make Linux somewhat more difficult than it would be
on other IBM boxes. I'm sure it's possible, of course, but unlike some of
the cheaper kit not many Linux enthusiasts will have had access to an S
series to play around with.

If it's cheap enough, the SSA kit might be worth something even if the
server itself isn't. There's been no advance on the D40 drawers and the
Advanced Serial RAID adapters are still good. The disks are probably OK
but they're a bit old. 7133-D40s are used in a lot of the (slightly) older
IBM storage boxes; plus some people will be using them directly, (there
are a few TB at one of the sites I support).

[petrolcan]

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Catego
ry=1484 >> >> and I was only looking for something to replace the
2.2gig unit I have.

Post by eric the brave
This machine is not supplied with an operating system, the
successful bidder will need to purchase the AIX O/S and licence
from an accredited IBM source. We will be happy to provide contact
details to aid the winning bidder in doing this.

That's why it's up for sale, and will be (relatively) cheap. IBM
changed their licensing structure and the cost of an AIX5L license
for the S series is significantly higher than for more modern
machines.
Previously - AIX 4.3.3 - you got AIX for free with the server.
Obviously the cost of the OS was included in the price of the server.
Now that IBM are trying to accomodate Linus that won't work, so they
dropped the prices of the servers - by quite a lot - then charge for
AIX separately.
There are versions of Linux which will run on PowerIV processors but I
don't think that these were ever provided for the S Series by IBM.
Also, the S series hardware is a bit different to the other RS/6000
or pSeries servers, which might make Linux somewhat more difficult
than it would be on other IBM boxes. I'm sure it's possible, of
course, but unlike some of the cheaper kit not many Linux enthusiasts
will have had access to an S series to play around with.
If it's cheap enough, the SSA kit might be worth something even if the
server itself isn't. There's been no advance on the D40 drawers and
the Advanced Serial RAID adapters are still good. The disks are
probably OK but they're a bit old. 7133-D40s are used in a lot of the
(slightly) older IBM storage boxes; plus some people will be using
them directly, (there are a few TB at one of the sites I support).

*GEEK*


:-)

[Bear]

Post by petrolcan

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Catego
ry=1484 >> >> and I was only looking for something to replace the
2.2gig unit I have.

Post by eric the brave
This machine is not supplied with an operating system, the
successful bidder will need to purchase the AIX O/S and licence
from an accredited IBM source. We will be happy to provide contact
details to aid the winning bidder in doing this.

That's why it's up for sale, and will be (relatively) cheap. IBM
changed their licensing structure and the cost of an AIX5L license
for the S series is significantly higher than for more modern
machines.
Previously - AIX 4.3.3 - you got AIX for free with the server.
Obviously the cost of the OS was included in the price of the server.
Now that IBM are trying to accomodate Linus that won't work, so they
dropped the prices of the servers - by quite a lot - then charge for
AIX separately.
There are versions of Linux which will run on PowerIV processors but I
don't think that these were ever provided for the S Series by IBM.
Also, the S series hardware is a bit different to the other RS/6000
or pSeries servers, which might make Linux somewhat more difficult
than it would be on other IBM boxes. I'm sure it's possible, of
course, but unlike some of the cheaper kit not many Linux enthusiasts
will have had access to an S series to play around with.
If it's cheap enough, the SSA kit might be worth something even if the
server itself isn't. There's been no advance on the D40 drawers and
the Advanced Serial RAID adapters are still good. The disks are
probably OK but they're a bit old. 7133-D40s are used in a lot of the
(slightly) older IBM storage boxes; plus some people will be using
them directly, (there are a few TB at one of the sites I support).

*GEEK*

I believe I'm right in saying that, where AIX is concerned, Mr Verds is
the man with whom not to fuck.

Is that not your area of specialist knowledge, Verds?

[Verdigris]

<SNIP An excessive amount of tedious crap about the RS/6000 7024-S80>

Post by Bear

Post by petrolcan
*GEEK*

I believe I'm right in saying that, where AIX is concerned, Mr Verds is
the man with whom not to fuck.
Is that not your area of specialist knowledge, Verds?

Well, I appear to have convinced my employer of that. I still expect to
be out of a job in 18 months. :-(

[Bear]

Post by Verdigris
<SNIP An excessive amount of tedious crap about the RS/6000 7024-S80>

Post by Bear

Post by petrolcan
*GEEK*

I believe I'm right in saying that, where AIX is concerned, Mr Verds is
the man with whom not to fuck.
Is that not your area of specialist knowledge, Verds?

Well, I appear to have convinced my employer of that. I still expect to
be out of a job in 18 months. :-(

Good lord, why so?

Doesn't matter though; anyone as intelligent as you will cross-train to
something newer and better in no time ... are there not a lot of legacy
AIX systems out there some company or other would be looking after?

I bet you'll end up earning more money as a result.

[Verdigris]

Post by Bear

Post by Verdigris
<SNIP An excessive amount of tedious crap about the RS/6000 7024-S80>

Post by Bear

Post by petrolcan
*GEEK*

I believe I'm right in saying that, where AIX is concerned, Mr Verds is
the man with whom not to fuck.
Is that not your area of specialist knowledge, Verds?

Well, I appear to have convinced my employer of that. I still expect to
be out of a job in 18 months. :-(

Good lord, why so?

I'm sure I mentioned it before. Maybe it was whilst you werer on
sabatical. Internal reorganisation, involving closure of the UK office.

Post by Bear
Doesn't matter though; anyone as intelligent as you will cross-train to
something newer and better in no time ... are there not a lot of legacy
AIX systems out there some company or other would be looking after?

There's nothing about AIX that warrants the label "legacy". It's as good
as the other major commercial UNIXes and at present the pSeries servers
are ahead of the game.

I'm not desperately keen to re-train again: I'd rather do something which
makes use of the skills I've already got. Starting at the bottom again
holds little appeal.

Post by Bear
I bet you'll end up earning more money as a result.

It's always possible, but not my sole objective.[1]

[1] Something interesting whilst not to stressful; preferably not
requiring relocation or too much travel.

[Phil Launchbury]

Post by Verdigris
I'm not desperately keen to re-train again: I'd rather do something which
makes use of the skills I've already got. Starting at the bottom again
holds little appeal.

Go for management :-) That way you can hire desperate young techies and
work them to within an inch of their lives while making
guru-pronouncements from on high. And dazzling them with your technical
abilities..

It worked for me anyhow!

Phil

[Verdigris]

Post by Phil Launchbury

Post by Verdigris
I'm not desperately keen to re-train again: I'd rather do something which
makes use of the skills I've already got. Starting at the bottom again
holds little appeal.

Go for management :-) That way you can hire desperate young techies and
work them to within an inch of their lives while making
guru-pronouncements from on high. And dazzling them with your technical
abilities..
It worked for me anyhow!

I don't really like the idea of moving into management: I've had
opportunities in the past and turned them down. It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to actually
work with people.

Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There are a
few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales support,
for example.

I suppose I could do a degree in something or other. (Yes: I know that
would probably be re-training.) Hey, Wessie: how'd you get the money to
go back to university?

[Ginge]

Post by Verdigris
It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to
actually work with people.
Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There
are a few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales
support, for example.

These 2 statements don't seem to tie up.. Pre-sales support will
involve huge amounts of time working with people, both customers, and
also salesmen..

If you find working with managers frustrating you're going to love
working with salesmen.

[Supergrass]

Post by Ginge

Post by Verdigris
It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to
actually work with people.
Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There
are a few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales
support, for example.

These 2 statements don't seem to tie up.. Pre-sales support will
involve huge amounts of time working with people, both customers, and
also salesmen..
If you find working with managers frustrating you're going to love
working with salesmen.

I'm old. I've been everywhere, done it all and felt all the pain.

I used to try and tell my Gran what I did for a living, it wasn't easy
and I recall her more than once asking the question "But are you
working with nice people?". As I get older and wiser, I appreciate more
and more that it was not a trivial question.

The secret to a happy and fulfilling job IS to work with nice people.

[Verdigris]

Post by Ginge

Post by Verdigris
It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to
actually work with people.
Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There
are a few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales
support, for example.

These 2 statements don't seem to tie up.. Pre-sales support will
involve huge amounts of time working with people, both customers, and
also salesmen..
If you find working with managers frustrating you're going to love
working with salesmen.

I exagerated somewhat. I don't mind working with people, and I get on OK
with managers: I just don't want to be responsible for other people.

There are aspects of the pre-sales support role which appeal. In a lot of
the cases with which I am familiar these people also do regular support,
so it's not necssarily an entirely unfamiliar environment.

[Ben Blaney]

Post by Verdigris
I don't really like the idea of moving into management: I've had
opportunities in the past and turned them down. It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to actually
work with people.
Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There are a
few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales support,
for example.

Why don't you just slide into a Solaris job?

[steve auvache]

Post by Ben Blaney

Post by Verdigris
I don't really like the idea of moving into management: I've had
opportunities in the past and turned them down. It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to actually
work with people.
Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There are a
few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales support,
for example.

Why don't you just slide into a Solaris job?

He wouldn't fit in, have you seen how short his hair is these days?

[Verdigris]

Post by Ben Blaney

Post by Verdigris
I don't really like the idea of moving into management: I've had
opportunities in the past and turned them down. It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to actually
work with people.
Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There are a
few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales support,
for example.

Why don't you just slide into a Solaris job?

One UNIX is as good as another. Obviously I have some specialist
knowledge relevant only to AIX - the various cluster technologies, in
particular - but I'm quite happy to do AIX, Solaris, HPUX or whatever, if
someone's happy to put up me until I've picked up the differences[1]. I
don't count that as being a significant change.

[1] IBM do a couple of courses specifically for people coming from other
flavours of UNIX - particularly Solaris - to AIX. I assume there are
similar courses going the other way.

[steve auvache]

Post by Verdigris

Post by Ben Blaney

Post by Verdigris
I don't really like the idea of moving into management: I've had
opportunities in the past and turned them down. It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to actually
work with people.
Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There are a
few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales support,
for example.

Why don't you just slide into a Solaris job?

One UNIX is as good as another.

Yes and no, mostly yes.

Post by Verdigris
[1] IBM do a couple of courses specifically for people coming from other
flavours of UNIX - particularly Solaris - to AIX. I assume there are
similar courses going the other way.

When I worked for Sun I would do the cross training stuff. At lower
levels there were no courses specifically for cross learners. A few at
higher levels for application specific stuff.

The transition is quite painless however there is enough minor dialect
differences that the sensible folks would come on a fundies course. Sun
themselves *strongly* recommended they start no lower than Admin-1 even
if they were knowledgeable of their OS.

Of course once you start throwing in differences in hardware platforms
then there is no easy way.

[Bear]

Post by Verdigris

Post by Ben Blaney

Post by Verdigris
I don't really like the idea of moving into management: I've had
opportunities in the past and turned them down. It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to actually
work with people.
Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There are a
few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales support,
for example.

Why don't you just slide into a Solaris job?

One UNIX is as good as another.

So why are there so many different ones?

[d***@sticky.co.uk]

Post by Bear

Post by Verdigris
One UNIX is as good as another.

So why are there so many different ones?

geeks like to argue about pointless details.

[Verdigris]

Post by d***@sticky.co.uk

Post by Bear

Post by Verdigris
One UNIX is as good as another.

So why are there so many different ones?

geeks like to argue about pointless details.

Obviously! What else is technology for?

For some reasomn I can't see Bear's post, so let me answer him here...

In the beginning there were lots of people doing lots of different things
as the OS evolved. This ended up with two main flavours: BSD and System
V. (I think both AIX and Solaris are based on System V; I'm not sure
about HP-UX off the top of my head.)

These days it's down to hardware. To get UNIX to run on IBM Power
hardware someone's got to make some changes to it. It's not in Sun's
interest to do that, so IBM do their own version.

IBM/Sun/HPaq also introduce changes to their particular flavour of UNIX in
order to help market it. Each has its own particular strengths,
weaknesses and foibles but ultimately I don't think it makes much
difference in most cases.

Things are starting to change a little bit now as Linux is improving. IBM
in particular have put a lot of effort into getting it to run on their
hardware. It's possible that Linux will eventually suplant AIX, although
it's not going to happen anytime soon as there are still plenty of things
you can do with AIX that are not possible with Linux, (yet). It changes
the price structure - IBM dropped their server prices significantly a
couple of years ago and made AIX a separately chargeable product.
Potentially it makes swapping from one type of hardware to another easier.

[Bear]

Post by Verdigris

Post by d***@sticky.co.uk

Post by Bear

Post by Verdigris
One UNIX is as good as another.

So why are there so many different ones?

geeks like to argue about pointless details.

Obviously! What else is technology for?
For some reasomn I can't see Bear's post, so let me answer him here...
In the beginning there were lots of people doing lots of different things
as the OS evolved. This ended up with two main flavours: BSD and System
V. (I think both AIX and Solaris are based on System V; I'm not sure
about HP-UX off the top of my head.)
These days it's down to hardware. To get UNIX to run on IBM Power
hardware someone's got to make some changes to it. It's not in Sun's
interest to do that, so IBM do their own version.
IBM/Sun/HPaq also introduce changes to their particular flavour of UNIX in
order to help market it. Each has its own particular strengths,
weaknesses and foibles but ultimately I don't think it makes much
difference in most cases.
Things are starting to change a little bit now as Linux is improving. IBM
in particular have put a lot of effort into getting it to run on their
hardware. It's possible that Linux will eventually suplant AIX, although
it's not going to happen anytime soon as there are still plenty of things
you can do with AIX that are not possible with Linux, (yet). It changes
the price structure - IBM dropped their server prices significantly a
couple of years ago and made AIX a separately chargeable product.
Potentially it makes swapping from one type of hardware to another easier.

Thanks for that, all fascinating stuff [1], but wasn't one of the key
aims of UNIX, and thus presumably Linux, to make a universal platform?
In which case, the question still remains, why so many versions?

[1] if I was the sort of bloke who had no mates and had never had a blow
job [2]
[2] see sig disclaimer, below

[Phil Launchbury]

Post by Bear

Post by Verdigris
couple of years ago and made AIX a separately chargeable product.
Potentially it makes swapping from one type of hardware to another easier.

Thanks for that, all fascinating stuff [1], but wasn't one of the key
aims of UNIX, and thus presumably Linux, to make a universal platform?

And it almost is - except at the hardware level. I could take an open
source product (for example sendmail) and re-compile it on solaris or
HP-Ux or Linux. In general the different settings that are needed to
compile the code are already present in the configuration section and
the build process will select the right ones.

Part of that is a common set of application program interface calls and
part of that is work by the people who write the code - it's a lot
easier to get Solaris source code to compile on linux (for example)
than it would be to port the same code over to Windows.

Post by Bear
In which case, the question still remains, why so many versions?

Multiple vendors 'adding value' to their offering and charging several
arms and legs for the end result.

If there were multiple vendors producing Windows you would have the
same situation[1]

Phil.

[1] And did in the old DOS days - there was MS-DOS (Microsoft), PC-DOS
(IBM), DR-DOS (can't remember who did that). All theoretically
compatible, all with their own tweaks and quirks.

[Ben]

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 14:46:39 +0100, Phil Launchbury

Post by Phil Launchbury
[1] And did in the old DOS days - there was MS-DOS (Microsoft), PC-DOS
(IBM), DR-DOS (can't remember who did that).

Digital Research, unsurprisingly.

[simonk]

Post by Bear

Post by Verdigris

Post by Ben Blaney

Post by Verdigris
I don't really like the idea of moving into management: I've had
opportunities in the past and turned them down. It'd be good to have more
control over what's going on, but not at the expense of having to actually
work with people.
Having said that, some sort of change might be appropriate. There are a
few options whilst remaining a technician of sorts - pre-sales support,
for example.

Why don't you just slide into a Solaris job?

One UNIX is as good as another.

So why are there so many different ones?

"Unixes are like arseholes - everybody's got one"

[Phil Launchbury]

Post by Bear

Post by Verdigris

Post by Ben Blaney
Why don't you just slide into a Solaris job?

One UNIX is as good as another.

So why are there so many different ones?

Because there are so many vendors who call their product unix.

Phil

[Ben Blaney]

Post by Verdigris

Post by Ben Blaney
Why don't you just slide into a Solaris job?

One UNIX is as good as another. Obviously I have some specialist
knowledge relevant only to AIX - the various cluster technologies, in
particular - but I'm quite happy to do AIX, Solaris, HPUX or whatever, if
someone's happy to put up me until I've picked up the differences[1]. I
don't count that as being a significant change.

Exactly. I would think that with your skills and experience,
intelligence and manner - you won't find it difficult /at all/ to get
a job with any flavour. Particularly if you can whizz through a
couple of Solaris quals in the next 18 months.

[Soylent Green]

Post by Ben Blaney
Exactly. I would think that with your skills and experience,
intelligence and manner - you won't find it difficult /at all/ to get
a job with any flavour. Particularly if you can whizz through a
couple of Solaris quals in the next 18 months.

Heh. Why do you think I grabbed those e450s?

[Phil Launchbury]

Post by Verdigris

Post by Phil Launchbury
Go for management :-) That way you can hire desperate young techies and
work them to within an inch of their lives while making
guru-pronouncements from on high. And dazzling them with your technical
abilities..
It worked for me anyhow!

I don't really like the idea of moving into management: I've had
opportunities in the past and turned them down. It'd be good to have more

This job is actually ideal for me - it's a small (5 people including
me) team and there is a fairly high technical content to my job. It
allows me to continue dazzling people with my techieness while having
minions to pass the boring stuff to :-)

Phil.

[Verdigris]

<SNIP>

Post by Phil Launchbury

Post by Verdigris
I don't really like the idea of moving into management: I've had
opportunities in the past and turned them down. It'd be good to have more

This job is actually ideal for me - it's a small (5 people including
me) team and there is a fairly high technical content to my job. It
allows me to continue dazzling people with my techieness while having
minions to pass the boring stuff to :-)

That sort of thing could be OK. I considered a similar sort of position a
few years back but having talked it over with my boss I decided that
there's be too much management and not enough technical stuff, so I gave
it a miss.

The guy who did take it did fairly well out of it, in that he's not in
danger of redundancy, having moved to one of the operating companies,
something which isn't really an option for me as they don't want or need
IT staff.

I did recently learn that all of the companies competing for the
outsourcing contract are likely to be hosting some or all of the services
in the UK, which increases the chances of getting a job with them.

[Ginge]

Post by Verdigris
<SNIP An excessive amount of tedious crap about the RS/6000 7024-S80>

Post by Bear

GEEK

I believe I'm right in saying that, where AIX is concerned, Mr
Verds is the man with whom not to fuck.
Is that not your area of specialist knowledge, Verds?

Well, I appear to have convinced my employer of that. I still expect
to be out of a job in 18 months. :-(

Talk to me at platyfest. Whilst my employer isn't all sunshine and
roses there are routes into AIX work... more so recently...

[mike. buckley]

In message <***@news.zen.co.uk>, Ginge <***@privacy.net>
writes

Post by Ginge

Post by Verdigris
<SNIP An excessive amount of tedious crap about the RS/6000 7024-S80>

Post by Bear

GEEK

I believe I'm right in saying that, where AIX is concerned, Mr
Verds is the man with whom not to fuck.
Is that not your area of specialist knowledge, Verds?

Well, I appear to have convinced my employer of that. I still expect
to be out of a job in 18 months. :-(

Talk to me at platyfest. Whilst my employer isn't all sunshine and
roses there are routes into AIX work... more so recently...

More coming, expect top AIX techies to be leaving imminently....

[Verdigris]

Post by Ginge

Post by Verdigris
<SNIP An excessive amount of tedious crap about the RS/6000 7024-S80>

Post by Bear

GEEK

I believe I'm right in saying that, where AIX is concerned, Mr
Verds is the man with whom not to fuck.
Is that not your area of specialist knowledge, Verds?

Well, I appear to have convinced my employer of that. I still expect
to be out of a job in 18 months. :-(

Talk to me at platyfest. Whilst my employer isn't all sunshine and
roses there are routes into AIX work... more so recently...

Ta. I'll do that.

[Wicked Uncle Nigel]

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Verdigris

Post by Verdigris

Post by Ginge

Post by Verdigris
<SNIP An excessive amount of tedious crap about the RS/6000 7024-S80>

Post by Bear

GEEK

I believe I'm right in saying that, where AIX is concerned, Mr
Verds is the man with whom not to fuck.
Is that not your area of specialist knowledge, Verds?

Well, I appear to have convinced my employer of that. I still expect
to be out of a job in 18 months. :-(

Talk to me at platyfest. Whilst my employer isn't all sunshine and
roses there are routes into AIX work... more so recently...

Ta. I'll do that.

Then start brushing up your Linux skills... ;^)

[Verdigris]

Post by Wicked Uncle Nigel
Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Verdigris

<SNIP>

Post by Wicked Uncle Nigel

Post by Verdigris

Post by Ginge

I still expect to be out of a job in 18 months. :-(

Talk to me at platyfest. Whilst my employer isn't all sunshine and
roses there are routes into AIX work... more so recently...

Ta. I'll do that.

Then start brushing up your Linux skills... ;^)

I'm toying with that idea. With a little bit of quick talk I think I can
probably get Red Hat certified (and trained, of course!) at no expense,
(to me).

[fluffycat]

With a little bit of quick talk I think I can probably get Red Hat certified

Debian. way forward, etc

[Wicked Uncle Nigel]

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, fluffycat

Post by fluffycat

With a little bit of quick talk I think I can probably get Red Hat certified

Debian. way forward, etc

FWIW, we sell a fair bit of software on Linux platforms. Almost all RH
or Suse.

[Phil Launchbury]

Post by fluffycat

With a little bit of quick talk I think I can probably get Red Hat certified

Debian. way forward, etc

Redhat - most commercially used..

Phil

[eric the brave]

Post by Verdigris

Post by eric the brave

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

This machine is not supplied with an operating system, the successful
bidder will need to purchase the AIX O/S and *licence* from an accredited
IBM source. We will be happy to provide contact details to aid the winning
bidder in doing this.

That's why it's up for sale, and will be (relatively) cheap. IBM changed
their licensing structure and the cost of an AIX5L license for the S
series is significantly higher than for more modern machines.
Previously - AIX 4.3.3 - you got AIX for free with the server. Obviously
the cost of the OS was included in the price of the server. Now that IBM
are trying to accomodate Linus that won't work, so they dropped the prices
of the servers - by quite a lot - then charge for AIX separately.
There are versions of Linux which will run on PowerIV processors but I
don't think that these were ever provided for the S Series by IBM. Also,
the S series hardware is a bit different to the other RS/6000 or pSeries
servers, which might make Linux somewhat more difficult than it would be
on other IBM boxes. I'm sure it's possible, of course, but unlike some of
the cheaper kit not many Linux enthusiasts will have had access to an S
series to play around with.
If it's cheap enough, the SSA kit might be worth something even if the
server itself isn't. There's been no advance on the D40 drawers and the
Advanced Serial RAID adapters are still good. The disks are probably OK
but they're a bit old. 7133-D40s are used in a lot of the (slightly) older
IBM storage boxes; plus some people will be using them directly, (there
are a few TB at one of the sites I support).

I wasn't going to say much because I know you would turn up with far more
AIX knowledge eventually :)

[tallbloke]

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=
1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

WE SHIP WORLDWIDE - PLEASE QUOTE DESTINATION CITY / COUNTRY WHEN MAILING US
FOR A SHIPPING QUOTE

<boggle>
That'd be a few quid to export.

[Mash]

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Category=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

Your 2.2gig unit would walk all over that.

[Soylent Green]

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Catego
ry=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

Passing chap at work on Friday: "There's some computers downstairs
that are being chucked out, help yourself to anything you want before
it goes."

So, 2 Ultra Enterprise 450s later, I'm getting a bit cramped in here...

[Timo Geusch]

Post by Soylent Green

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Cate
go ry=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

Passing chap at work on Friday: "There's some computers downstairs
that are being chucked out, help yourself to anything you want before
it goes."
So, 2 Ultra Enterprise 450s later, I'm getting a bit cramped in here...

I'll relieve you of one if you're really stuck :-)

[Soylent Green]

Post by Timo Geusch

Post by Soylent Green
So, 2 Ultra Enterprise 450s later, I'm getting a bit cramped in here...

I'll relieve you of one if you're really stuck :-)

Alas, one has already gone in an effort to placate SWMBO - whose face
was an absolute picture when she saw them being unloaded[1].


[1] You know - that look you give the cat when it drops half a dead
bird on your foot.

[Timo Geusch]

Post by Soylent Green

Post by Timo Geusch

Post by Soylent Green
So, 2 Ultra Enterprise 450s later, I'm getting a bit cramped in here...

I'll relieve you of one if you're really stuck :-)

Alas, one has already gone in an effort to placate SWMBO - whose face
was an absolute picture when she saw them being unloaded[1].

Heh.

Post by Soylent Green
[1] You know - that look you give the cat when it drops half a dead
bird on your foot.

Ah yes, I've been on the receiving end of that one a few times...

[Phil Launchbury]

Post by Timo Geusch

Post by Soylent Green
Passing chap at work on Friday: "There's some computers downstairs
that are being chucked out, help yourself to anything you want before
it goes."
So, 2 Ultra Enterprise 450s later, I'm getting a bit cramped in here...

I'll relieve you of one if you're really stuck :-)

And I'll relieve you of the other..! Or any other stuff of equivalent
spec.

Phil.

[Soylent Green]

Post by Phil Launchbury
And I'll relieve you of the other..! Or any other stuff of equivalent
spec.

THAT WOULD BE MOST AGREEABLE SIR PLEASE SEND A CHECK FOR UKP7000 AND
HAVE YOU AGENT ARRANGE SHIPPING AN I WILL FORWARD THE BALANCE TO YOUR
ESTEEMED SELF BY WESTERN UNION PAYMENT.

[Mark Olson]

Post by Soylent Green

Post by YTC449
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=5784136048&Catego
ry=1484
and I was only looking for something to replace the 2.2gig unit I have.

Passing chap at work on Friday: "There's some computers downstairs
that are being chucked out, help yourself to anything you want before
it goes."
So, 2 Ultra Enterprise 450s later, I'm getting a bit cramped in here...

And warm, if you've got them powered up.

I bought one of those with a bunch of 18G spindles, redundant PSUs, DLT
drive & tape robot, all told I think it was in the region of $75k.

[Soylent Green]

Post by Mark Olson
And warm, if you've got them powered up.
I bought one of those with a bunch of 18G spindles, redundant PSUs,
DLT drive & tape robot, all told I think it was in the region of $75k.

Some thieving bastard grabbed the 360 gig drive array while I was
loading the first one into the car. I did get a tape robot, a couple
of dds3 tape drives and 19" monitor though.

And yes, bloody warm when powered up. Although Sol 10 cuts the fans
after 10-15 mins of not doing much, Gentoo doesn't.

Proof then, that Linux works harder than Slowaris...