Conference ulysse::rdb_vms_competition

    I haven't worked on an AS/400 but worked on the S/36 a great deal
    and am familar with the S/38 which is the machine that took Miracle
    Grow and became the AS/400.  
    
    The basic functionality that is missing is simple things like START
    TRANSACTION and COMMIT to the database and very weak SQL support.
    
    -- gerry

    Consult the IBM notesfile on, I believe, HPS::IBM. There is a note
    there devoted to the AS400 and details some of the problems they
    have with data recovery and the like.
    
    HTH
    
    PDB

    There have been extensive articles in MISweek and Computerworld about
    the lack of recovery capability, losing data, etc. I even cited them in
    old NewsBooth newsletters.
    
    ---- Michael Booth

    Gerry, (and all,)
    
    Great BAR-B-Q! I love vivting KC!
    
    I'm ASKING here, not telling.
    
    Does that mean the AS/400 database (whatever that is) doesn't even do
    RUN UNIT JOURNALLING?
    
    thomas
    

    As I understand it, journaling is available, but hurts performance
    so badly that nobody uses it (and IBM doesn't report benchmarks
    with it).  Something like a 2x hit.

 IBM - "Recovery Problems Plague IBM's AS/400"
	{MIS Week, 14-Aug-89, p. 1} {MISG}
   Electrical storms and other accidental power outages have made some users
 hot under the collar during the IBM mid-range AS/400's first full summer use,
 because the computer is slow to recover and has even lost data in some
 instances. Although most systems suffer some downtime after an accidental
 power outage, users report that the AS/400's recovery can take as long as 15
 hours, and still not restore data completely. Users and AS/400 developers said
 the problem stems from one of the aspects IBM has touted - its single-level
 storage architecture. That architecture was designed to enable System/38 and
 AS/400 users to input data without regard to where it is stored on the system. 
 While the single-level storage architecture makes the AS/400 easier to
 program, there is a downside. Storage space is allocated as needed across all
 available storage devices, analysts said. If one device fails and the data on
 it can't be recovered, it may be necessary to reload the data on all storage
 devices, which can lead to long recovery times, according Dave Andrews,
 president of ADM Inc., a consulting firm in Cheshire, Connecticut.

 IBM - "Buyers Confused by IBM's Mid-Range Strategy, Report Says"
	{MIS Week, 14-Aug-89, p. 11} {MISG}
   Buyers are confused about IBM's mid-range strategy due to overlapping
 systems and are questioning which machine is proper for their applications,
 said a report from the Aberdeen Group. The consulting firm also warned users
 against purchasing equipment based on IBM's benchmark claims. The Aberdeen
 Group is a Boston-based computer research and consulting organization which
 monitors users needs, technological changes and market developments. The
 report also sharply criticized IBM for what it calls Big Blue's "gamesmanship"
 in the "benchmarking wars." According to John R. Logan, an Aberdeen Vice
 President and author of the report, "We're constantly asked by confused buyers
 of mid-range systems, What are their products? Which ones should I be
 evaluating? Which ones are important at this point in time?"  Logan said the
 report was written following a two-day consultation with IBM on its mid-range
 strategy. IBM said it has four mid-range offerings: AS/400, 9370, RT PC, and
 the System/88 (the fault-tolerant system made by Stratus Computer Corp., which
 IBM is reselling). However, based on users' perspectives (which the Aberdeen
 Group said it ascertained during continuous survey work consisting of
 one-on-one interviews), IBM's mid-range offerings also include token-ringed
 PS/2s with OS/EE (OfficeVision/2 LAN) and 4300-class machines.