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Given AS/400 to sell, please assist

R

RADRaze2KX

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Jul 14, 2012
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I'm trying to identify what I've been given, but I don't know much about old servers. I have a box full of manuals, one of which says "Setting Up Your 940x Model 170 version 4", and I've narrowed down the type of server to an IBM eServer i5, I suppose? I've yet to get all the part numbers from the inside, but there appears to be 3 x 36GB SCSI harddrives and two power supplies. It also weighs enough to merit wheels integrated into the chassis (85 pounds, roughly). I can't find a place to plug in a standard VGA monitor and the motherboard's expansion slots are not standard PC slots, so none of my graphics cards will fit... I also have a very large, very heavy UPS system that goes with it, which is also about 45 pounds or so. It was pulled from a working environment with no issues, and still works. I don't know what to do with it, so I've decided to sell it.

Can someone please assist me with what I have on my hands and approximately how much I should sell it for? I can provide pictures if that will help... Thank you wholeheartedly, in advance.
 
Its not reall an "old server" its an IBM mid-range machine which probably ran OS/400 or the power-pc equivalent.

If you don't have a console workstation then how do you know it works? If its a 940x it looks like these need a special console c all an HMC which is IBM proprietry and without it its pretty useless. You probably also would want the software installation media.

I think unless you have some software and a console then the resale value will be low, or even nill. I suspect that this is one of those situations where something is worth more as pure scrap (It may be old enough to contain sgnificant amounts of gold) than as a going peice of kit.
 
I have code in that machine. I was on the team that did the low level operating system work for it when it was being developed.

Don't bother trying to connect it to a VGA display. It needs a "5250" style terminal. It might have an option to use a PC as a terminal running over Ethernet, but that is difficult to setup. (If it even has Ethernet.)

If you really want to unload it to a good home, look for an IBM "Business Partner" that specializes in the AS/400 (iSeries). There is a newsgroup ( Google groups link: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/comp.sys.ibm.as400.misc ) that you can use to ask for help too.

Fun notes ..

It is a variant of 64 bit PowerPC. The SCSI hard drives use 520 byte sector sizes instead of the usual 512 byte sector size. (The OS uses the extra 8 bytes.) I think our internal code-name for the processor was "Cobra" or "Cobra4." That particular model was a low end entry model for the AS/400.
 
mbbrutman said:
I have code in that machine. I was on the team that did the low level operating system work for it when it was being developed
Click to expand...

That's really awesome! This forum seems like a pretty diverse group of people, I think I could learn a lot from you all.

I just went to the storage and looked at the front of the case today, it says it's a "Type 9405-520" S/N 10-EADAC ... Is this the same thing as what I said above? Going to drag it in here and disassemble it for the P/N's and itemize them so I can present it to a buyer. Thanks again for the info, in advance.
 
g4ugm said:
If you don't have a console workstation then how do you know it works?
Click to expand...

The server was being used until the day we migrated our data from it onto the new server and turned the old server off. So there's a hardware management console that I'm missing? All the workstations that were attached to it were IBM desktop's with XP Pro, the company that installed the server set it up and maintained it remotely.
 
mbbrutman said:
We seem to have a mismatch here ... if you really have a 9405-520 that is a much much newer machine. Here are the specs:

http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/index.jsp?topic=/iphc5/9405_520_landing.htm

That has a relatively recent Power5 processor in it - less than 10 years old. That machine might have some real resale value - it's slow compared to the current Power7 based machines out there, but it's more than most of us need.


Mike
Click to expand...

That's exactly what it looks like. It's quite heavy. The company that gave it to me had the invoice with three workstations on it and it came out to around $30K, but I can't recall how long ago it was. I think 2002 or 2003. I'm going to go itemize the parts on there and figure out how much RAM is in it. There's 2x36GB SCSI drives (i pulled the other two trays and they were empty)... I'll give an update, with pictures, here after a little while. Thanks so much, sir!
 
OK. From what I've gathered, this is an IBM eServer i5 - 9405 SF2 (Type 9405-520)

It has:
- 2 x 36GB 15,000RPM SCSI drives, with expansion for two more, or another add-in card for a total of 8.
- 1GB (4 x 256MB) DDR266 ECC RAM sticks and 4 additional unused slots
- 1 x 850W Power Supply, with a dedicated spot for a second
- 1 x SLR60 30/60 Tape Drive and DVD Drive

I'm not sure the processor(s). Below are the first set of images.


eserver9405_5208.jpg


eserver9405_5209.jpg


eserver9405_52010.jpg


eserver9405_52011.jpg


eserver9405_52016.jpg


eserver9405_52022.jpg


eserver9405_5203.jpg


eserver9405_5204.jpg


eserver9405_5205.jpg


eserver9405_5206.jpg


eserver9405_52012.jpg


eserver9405_52013.jpg


eserver9405_52014.jpg


eserver9405_52015.jpg


eserver9405_52023.jpg


Additional images here: http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e252/TruRomeo4Juliet/IBM eServer i5 - 9405-520/
 
And there are several add-in cards that I can't tell what they are, though one looks like a modem, one looks like a parallel port card, and one looks like a dual-serial / dual-ethernet card. The last one is strange, it looks

Mystery Card:
eserver9405_5206.jpg


eserver9405_52041.jpg


eserver9405_52043.jpg

eserver9405_52044.jpg



Not sure what these are, either??
eserver9405_52047.jpg




Tape drive
eserver9405_52048.jpg





Alright... what am I looking at?
 
You're looking at a pretty nice server .. but please, stop playing around inside of it! I hope you put everything back in the correct slot and didn't cause any static damage.

That particular machine isn't that old - it's about 2 generations behind of the current iSeries (AS/400) server machines. It looks a little low on memory, but it's got some screaming 15,000 RPM SCSI drives in there. It has a reasonably fast Power 5 PowerPC processor, which is 64 bit and pretty fast. With the correct licenses and software that can run Linux too.

Your best bet is to put it back together and find an iSeries (AS/400) business partner or reseller. They'll know what to do with it. You are not going to get top dollar doing it that way, but it will get to somebody who can use it, probably in their small business.

(If I was doing AS/400 consulting still that would be a nice box to have in the house.)
 
Ah, she's back together again as she was.

I'll be completely honest, I really don't know much about the AS/400's. I knew I had a good server on my hands when they showed me the original invoice, but I really had no idea beyond that. So this server only has 1 processor, not two like the few I've seen on eBay? But it's a Power 5 PowerPC processor capable of handling the same 32GBs of memory as the others?
 
Not sure that box counts as Vintage for several more years. Anyway, just curious what the newer as/400 stuff uses for consoles. Those SPCN ports old school serial console ports ? The female db9 is an odd choice if so. Guessing the HMC ports are the ethernet management ports.
 
lol, not sure that first ebay auction helps with the price range. From the pics that seems to be his. ;-) Unfortunately the weight is what tends to be prohibitive in nature. It costs almost as much as it's worth to ship the thing. Still fun for folks wanting to collect or get an introduction to mid-range business computers but you'd likely want to seek out someone within driving distance. You're in Chandler, Arizona? (for those watching).
 
Vintage or not, it's an interesting box. Was always curious about OS/400 or i5/OS or i or whatever they're calling it these days. If this was around the NYC metro area, I'd make an offer.
 
Securix said:
Vintage or not, it's an interesting box. Was always curious about OS/400 or i5/OS or i or whatever they're calling it these days. If this was around the NYC metro area, I'd make an offer.
Click to expand...

This is IBM ultra-proprietary kit, you will need additional kit for the console, and you will need a licensed (read, money) copy of the operating system. These two items will be hard/expensive to get, unless you already have them or a source for them... If you are in your first steps on AS/400 land, better get a known-to-be-already-in-working-order-and-fully-loaded machine first.

Plus, 800 W would be like having a dishwasher running when you turn it on, not nice to your home electric bill...
 
Bary:

You are right, the one listed on eBay is his, I did not look at the eBay pics first before I replied. He has talked to someone who knows about pricing, I was talking to a reseller today and asked about the value. He is close.
 
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