System information

Planning Considerations
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boot server. A small AS/400 system is a very cost effective solution in
comparison with a local PC server. This system can be managed very
effectively from the central site.
If you look at the 100 users group, there is a local server that can provide boot
information. You do not want to impact its work load. In this scenario, you can
use Broadcast boot. This provides faster bootup, and central management, or
again, you can could implement a small AS/400 system to act as the boot
server.
If you look at the entire diagram as one organization, you can combine all
three methods, depending on your management policies. Management from
the central site is a good solution and this can be achieved very simply. If
there are good AS/400 system, TCP/IP skills, it is possible to introduce a
DCHP server to allow roaming and control the IP addresses (see Chapter 4,
“Remote Servers and Split Boot Servers” on page 107).
2.4 Capacity
When investigating capacity requirements, consider the capacity of the
network, and the utilization of the servers. If the network is old and has limited
capacity, plan to upgrade. When the users realize the functionality delivered
by the Network Station, demands on the network will grow tremendously,
possibly overloading the available bandwidth. The network must be able to
cope with the availability demands of the organization. Backup routes must be
available if one link goes down. A network capacity study is time well spent.
Any network with a mixture of systems and PCs may have a considerable
latent demand.
The servers in the network must have the capacity to support the line of
business applications and the CPU power needed to start up the users during
normal logon and restart after failure. If broadcast boot is an option, then this
reduces the demand on the server. If logon time is critical, consider installing
local boot servers, especially where the network is one of the limiting factors.
Capacity is a very diverse topic and depends on the particular organizational
requirements.
2.5 Performance
Performance information for Releases 1 through 3 for Network Stations
attached to an AS/400 V3R2, V3R7, V4R1 and V4R2 is described in this