Last month I told you about IBM’s new Capacity Upgrade on Demand feature offering for the iSeries 840 line. This program offers iSeries owners the opportunity to temporarily (or permanently) add processors to their n-way 840 systems as needed. Here’s how it works. Capacity Upgrade on Demand is possible because additional processors are built into every n-way 840 (four processors for the 8-way system and six each for the 12- and 18-way systems). These extra processors are not brought online until users decide they need them. At that time, iSeries owners can temporarily activate the additional processors (for 14 days). If the additional power is needed on a permanent basis, users may purchase a license from IBM for the number of processors they want to keep online permanently.

This is pretty cool! This option gives iSeries owners a built-in margin of safety for keeping their systems up and running. For a company adding a new line of business such as a Web-based e-commerce system, having the ability to add more processing power when needed is very handy. And, the best thing about this program is that it doesn’t cost anything until you decide to bring the extra processors online on a permanent basis (which you don’t have to do). I like this program. The program gives me extra strength in the reserves, but I’m not out any money if I decide I don’t need it. I wish I could purchase a new car this way.

Capacity Upgrade on Demand isn’t the only new program from IBM. IBM has also created two more capacity marketing plans. While the new plans don’t offer new technology or even innovative ways to use existing technology, they do offer food for thought about capacity planning. I’m referring to IBM’s Horizontal Capacity Upgrade on Demand and Storage Capacity Upgrade on Demand programs.

Horizontal Capacity Upgrade

This plan lets you order up to 30 percent more servers and selected storage products when you order a new iSeries or AS/400 system. Now, I’m not sure what 30 percent of a server would be (maybe you get an extra LED control panel?), but IBM has a formula for figuring out what you’ll actually take home. Once you have the additional products, you can activate them whenever they’re needed. The kicker is that, unlike the Capacity Upgrade on Demand program, in which additional processors are paid for only after being brought online, the Horizontal Capacity Upgrade program defers payment on the additional servers and storage products for only six months. After that, you have to pay for the extras whether you’re using them or not. Does this automatically mean you’re getting a bad deal? Not necessarily.

If you know your business is going to grow such that you will likely need additional servers or storage products, then ordering them early and keeping them in reserve is a pretty good idea. And, a six-month payment deferral might be just what you need to fit the additional products into your budget.

However, keep in mind that there’s nothing new here. IBM has repackaged existing products, putting a new spin on things with the hope that you will purchase something you normally wouldn’t. Having said that, though, I still think this is a good idea, mostly because it’s relatively easy to underestimate your system’s future capacity requirements and order too small a system. Having the opportunity to purchase additional capacity when
you’re already spending a ton of money on a new system makes a lot of sense, especially with the deferred payment option to sweeten the pot.

Storage Capacity Upgrade on Demand

This plan, like the Horizontal Capacity Upgrade on Demand plan, doesn’t really offer much that is new in the way of technology. However, it does offer the means to build a system’s storage capacity on an as-needed basis, allowing users to upgrade or enhance capacity through one of three IBM-provided or -managed options: outsourcing, QuickShip/Custom QuickShip, and the Enterprise Storage Server (ESS) “A Step Ahead” program.

With the outsourcing option, IBM works with you to locate a storage outsourcing partner and then helps you set up the storage program. This may be a good deal for your own internal capacity planning program, because it takes a lot of the headache off you and puts it on IBM. The QuickShip programs basically allow you to pay a little bit more to get storage products shipped to you in either 24 hours (via the QuickShip option) or seven days (with the Custom QuickShip option).

The ESS “A Step Ahead” program (don’t you just love these names?) lets you purchase an ESS F20 (Shark) with a base amount of storage, up to 10,200. Along with the base amount comes an additional, built-in buffer zone of storage capacity that can be activated as needed. For example, if you order the ESS with 10,200 GB of storage, it will automatically come with an additional 980 GB held in reserve that can be activated by purchasing a license for it from IBM. Of the three programs, this last one is probably the best deal in the context of capacity planning. The other programs don’t really offer anything that you couldn’t have gotten before IBM threw all these programs together.

Get with the Program!

While capacity planning is never very interesting to think about, as a systems administrator, it’s something you are forced to do regardless. And, even though IBM’s marketing group has taken advantage of the hoopla surrounding the renaming of the AS/400 and the copper silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, don’t hold it against them. The marketing group may have had dollar signs in their eyes when they added the capacity planning programs, but this time the programs work to your advantage.