4 ms·
It isn't the chip architecture that people are buying. It is the hardware that gets asymptotically close to Tandem- and System z-like features that you cannot y
by yourapostasy 4y ago
It isn't the chip architecture that people are buying. It is the hardware that gets asymptotically close to Tandem- and System z-like features that you cannot yet get on x86- and ARM-based gear. Lots of HN folks like to throw shade on AIX, but if you have someone who is dead serious on obtaining near-mainframe-grade RAS on "a Unix" and is willing to write the checks for it, the check is smaller on POWER systems running AIX than trying to effectively roll your own under x86 or ARM systems running whatever Linux distribution you care to choose.
It just so happens that in the vast majority of use cases, x86 or ARM systems running Linux are good enough for the business purposes. The first few times you run into the situation, you'd be amazed what losses and risks business will tolerate when faced with the costs to mitigate that last 0.1% of profit optimization.
In absolute numbers there are way more commas than the average HN'er retirement portfolio in that last 0.1%. But when it will cost almost the same in the first 3-5 years of migrating to AIX than that number, the IRR payout timeline is way longer than most businesses will tolerate. And most managers are savvy enough to understand the teething pains in the meantime are a career-limiting move.
- steve1977 4y agoI mean I get it if you want to run AIX for some reason, but with Oracle RAC, you get the availability basically with commodity hardware - that was the whole selling point of RAC initially.
- yourapostasy 4y agoOracle RAC is a great solution for Oracle database availability. AIX solves the generalized problem of bringing RAC-like availability to general monolithic applications. Different use cases, each with their own particular strengths. As much as I am loathe to choose Oracle as a database when solution designing, there is no hesitation when I run into a use cases where nothing but Oracle can address the performance, feature and/or availability requirements, and Oracle RAC comes along for the ride many of those times. However, anytime I see someone demanding mainframe- or POTS telephony-grade availability outside of an Oracle RAC, and they’re willing to spray the money hose at the problem to get it quickly nearly out of the box instead of underwriting an open source research and development project, I first reach for AIX on POWER System iron to try out the feature fit. I’m shameless in flirting with whatever tech stack will meet the business and engineering requirements.