There’s a lot of talk these days about cognitive computing and artificial intelligence.
Well, let’s pretend for a moment your IBM i can talk. Here are 5 excuses you will never hear from your IBM i server.
1) “I just froze up and started deleting files because I got hit with ransomware.”
The IBM i object–oriented architecture does not permit frightful software like ransomware to exploit an IBM i.
2) “I just got a virus. I won’t be working right.”
Again, the IBM i object–oriented architecture does not permit viruses or malware to exploit an IBM i.
3) “You need to get me a database administrator to help me balance the workload. This stuff is over my head.”
IBM DB2 is an integral part of IBM i. In fact, IBM i and DB2 track record usage and optimize performance. Those files most frequently used are placed in memory and storage for faster access. Those records less frequently used are saved in less frequently accessed portions of storage. This way the IBM continually tunes and balances workload and file access for best performance automatically.
4) “When I feel bad, I am afraid to ask for help.”
IBM diagnostics are a wonderful thing. They generally tell you when something goes wrong before it happens – like a cache battery that will run out in 70 days or a disk unit may be on the verge to fail in 30-90 days. You get an error message on the console – with way more specific detail than other OSs so you can know what to fix. Your IBM i also “phones home” to IBM so service can deliver the part and the repairmen to fix the issue. In many cases, the repairman show up without you knowing the call was made.
5) “I don’t remember what I did wrong.”
IBM i keeps extensive logs of anything that may go wrong well beyond other OS. It even has a section most users don’t know about – “First Failure Data Capture (FFDC)”. FFDC collects miniscule issues when data moves incorrectly within the computer so IBM can capture the problem when it happens. That way IBM can figure out what to fix…or change their architecture if needed.
So what?
Several years ago, eBay crashed for several hours. The culprit turned out to be that electromagnetic radiation from sunspots had “killed” the cache memory in eBay’s SUN servers. SUN was aware of the faulty hardware before the incident but chose to respond on a “break-fix” basis…so they did not get around to fixing eBay’s SUN servers until after they crashed. Oops.
This has never happened on an IBM i server.
By the way, how will you know a computer really has artificial intelligence?
When your computer tells you “That reminds me of a joke.”…. And the joke is funny.
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