Hi guys
I have joined a new department and one of my tasks is to investigate the feasibility of upgrading our current AIX v 4.3 to V5.3.
I do not know anything about AIX and any actual work will be done by an outside consultant until such time as I have built up my own knowledge.
The system we run on AIX has an Informix database on a RS/6000 43P Model 150 604e 375 Mhz server. The application runs on a number of PCs running SCO unix. This is a mission critical system and we cannot afford downtime as it feeds information for parts to be received , stored and then distributed to our car assembly lines.
What I would like to know from this learned forum are the following:
The system we are using on AIX will be replaced by SAP in about 2 years time so if the exercise is too costly/risky/complicated maybe we should not even do it. Thus should we consider the upgrade?
I was told that the RS/6000 model server we are using may not be able to support V5.3. Is this true or a lot of bull?
If we do the upgrade are there any issues or things we should be aware of ?
i think everyone's situation is differernt... but if you were to ask me... then...
i don't think an upgrade will necessarily be THAT costly considering it's a mission critical system. you should, however, consider a couple of things: AIX support and your application support. has the application ever been certified on AIX versions later than 4.3? how do you get support for AIX 4.3? are you at the mercy of that outside consultant?
i do not believe 5.3 will run on a 43p. i THINK the highest you can go is 5.1.
the only upgrade issue you may need to consider is whether or not you have the hardware and software that supports that upgraded AIX version.
if that SAP system comes in somewhat soon, you may want to consider just keeping the 43P running as is and buy a bunch of spare 43Ps (since they're DIRT CHEAP on the used market) for spare parts if anything breaks. *shrugs* just a thought.
JDM.... IMHO there's a lot of "business" issues to deal with before you tackle the "technical" issues. For example:
mission critical on a single machine ? (doesn't sound too mission critical to me)
feeding a car assembly line (that does sound mission critical)
what budget is available ?
what's the cost to your business if that Model 150 ever goes "off the air" (i.e. stops the assembly line) ? $50,000 / hour ? $250,000 / day ? (pick a number)
Regardless, everyone's situation is different. What works for one, may not work for another.
With respect to your questions:
if your environment really is mission critical, then I'd consider something that keeps your car assembly line going, above all else. Redundant systems come to mind. Upgrade ? may be, may not, it depends. Migrating to a pair of p5 processors, now, may provide you with more options.
run the command --> bootinfo -p <-- on your 150, If it responds with "chrp", it will run AIX 5.3. I seem to recall a 150 will in fact run AIX 5.3 but run the "bootinfo -p" command to confirm this for yourself. AIX 5.3 also has other "minimum" reqm'ts that might bite you on a Model 150, like 128MB memory & something like 2-3 GB free space. If you're using a single 4.5 GB drive that might be an issue for you. Remember these are minimums, not recommended values.
the Model 150 is a 32 bit machine, so the AIX 5.3 kernel will need to be the 32 bit version (not the default 64 bit kernel)..... this is not a problem, IBM provides both. But AIX 5.3 is the last announced version that will support a 32 bit kernel. AIX 5.4 allegedly is 64 bit kernel only, so it's pretty easy to conclude that AIX 5.3 will be the last release that will run on a Model 150.
Good luck sorting thru all the pros & cons. You've only scratched the surface.