IBM Cuts Deals on Selected Network Switches

August 9, 2010 Timothy Prickett Morgan

While The Four Hundred was on hiatus last week, IBM announced some pretty deep discounting on various networking products commonly used with its System x products, which are popular among the Power Systems base as well.

The deal, in announcement letter 310-229, applies to five different Ethernet switches resold by IBM. Under that deal, if you buy through IBM’s Web site or over the telephone, you get 30 percent shaved off the price. That is as good as most midrange shops were going to be able to negotiate on their own. Presumably IBM has some inventory it wants to move, and move before December 31, when this deal runs out.

Two switches from Blade Network Technologies are on the discount list: the RackSwitch G8000R, a 48-port Gigabit Ethernet switch that sits in the top of a server rack, now costs $4,514 instead of $6,449; the G8124R, a 24-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch, now costs $9,519, down from $13,599.

A 48-port, rack-based Gigabit Ethernet switch made by Brocade Communications and resold by IBM as the Ethernet Switch B48Y now costs $6,019, down from $8,599. Another rebadged Brocade switch, the Ethernet Switch B24X, a 24-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch with four uplinks, now costs $9,239, down from $13,199.

The Ethernet Switch J48E, which is a rebadged 48-port Gigabit Ethernet switch with optional 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks that is made by Juniper Networks, now costs $7,783, down from $11,118.

CORRECTION: This article was corrected on 08/09/10.

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Tags: Tags: mtfh_rc, Volume 19, Number 28 -- August 9, 2010

Do the Math When Looking at IBM i Hosting for Cost Savings

COVID-19 has accelerated certain business trends that were already gaining strength prior to the start of the pandemic. E-commerce, telehealth, and video conferencing are some of the most obvious examples. One example that may not be as obvious to the general public but has a profound impact on business is the shift in strategy of IBM i infrastructure from traditional, on-premises environments to some form of remote configuration. These remote configurations and all of their variations are broadly referred to in the community as IBM i hosting.

“Hosting” in this context can mean different things to different people, and in general, hosting refers to one of two scenarios. In the first scenario, hosting can refer to a client owned machine that is housed in a co-location facility (commonly called a co-lo for short) where the data center provides traditional system administrator services, relieving the client of administrative and operational responsibilities. In the second scenario, hosting can refer to an MSP owned machine in which partition resources are provided to the client in an on-demand capacity. This scenario allows the client to completely outsource all aspects of Power Systems hardware and the IBM i operating system and database.

The scenario that is best for each business depends on a number of factors and is largely up for debate. In most cases, pursuing hosting purely as a cost saving strategy is a dead end. Furthermore, when you consider all of the costs associated with maintaining and IBM i environment, it is typically not a cost-effective option for the small to midsize market. The most cost-effective approach for these organizations is often a combination of a client owned and maintained system (either on-prem or in a co-lo) with cloud backup and disaster-recovery-as-a-service. Only in some cases of larger enterprise companies can a hosting strategy start to become a potentially cost-effective option.

However, cost savings is just one part of the story. As IBM i expertise becomes scarce and IT resources run tight, the only option for some firms may be to pursue hosting in some capacity. Whatever the driving force for pursing hosting may be, the key point is that it is not just simply an option for running your workload in a different location. There are many details to consider and it is to the best interest of the client to work with an experienced MSP in weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each option. As COVID-19 rolls on, time will tell if IBM i hosting strategies will follow the other strong business trends of the pandemic.

When we say do the math in the title above, it literally means that you need to do the math for your particular scenario. It is not about us doing the math for you, making a case for either staying on premises or for moving to the cloud. There is not one answer, but just different levels of cost to be reckoned which yield different answers. Most IBM i shops have fairly static workloads, at least measured against the larger mix of stuff on the public clouds of the world. How do you measure the value of controlling your own IT fate? That will only be fully recognized at the moment when it is sorely missed the most.

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