Informix Upgrade Optons for an ancient Informix system

[Data Goob]

Ok,

So I stumbled onto some Informix work! yay! I got a call for help from someone
who owns a rather ancient system:

SunOS 5.7 Generic_106541-06 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-5_10
Informix Dynamic Server Version 7.30.UC7A

But it's not just any ancient system, it's been hacked...it's a Sun box that
has been rootkit'd. They did a good job of hosing up the system, but Informix
is still running. Unfortunately I can't use ps -ef to even see what is running,
they hosed up most of the commands necessary to monitor the system.

This is an ancient system, most of the work was done in the early 1990's, and the
system has been on autopilot for these past 15 years for the most part until this
past week or so, when things started breaking. I discovered the rootkit by looking
at the history list of the last root login, when I couldn't run ps. It appears to be a
hit-n-run, they found nothing, and left the system basically unusable. The system
is so unusable it will be better to reformat the hard drives and reinstall the OS.
But whoever installed Informix did a good job setting it up. Reminds me of a
long time ago...

Anyway...the client has a plethora of 4GL programs, and using RDS, not compiled.
Much of the code looks like it was generated, and modified slightly, all
lower-case. It's an accounting application, but not 4Gen ( thank god ).
They have indicated that they would be agreeable to moving to a Linux machine, if
we can't build a replacement Sun machine, but I'm not sure about being able to
help them.

Can we get 4GL RDS for Linux? If not what are our options?

How much is a 1-CPU license for IDS on Linux? ( USD ) I've stumbled around
the IBM web site but can't find pricing. I'm figuring we'll need 4GL RDS,
or 4GL compiler, IDS 10 1-CPU, or perhaps, SE?

Maybe I should downshift them to Informix SE, and forget the online version,
it's mostly reports-n-such. Is there a 4GL developer's package deal with SE?
SE should scream with speed on a modern Linux box. The client doesn't have a
lot of cash to spend on an upgrade, so SE might not be a bad 'upgrade'.

Your help or .02 USD would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks-in-advance!

-DG-

[Michael Krzepkowski]

Post by Data Goob
Ok,
So I stumbled onto some Informix work! yay! I got a call for help from someone
SunOS 5.7 Generic_106541-06 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-5_10
Informix Dynamic Server Version 7.30.UC7A
But it's not just any ancient system, it's been hacked...it's a Sun box that
has been rootkit'd. They did a good job of hosing up the system, but Informix
is still running. Unfortunately I can't use ps -ef to even see what is running,
they hosed up most of the commands necessary to monitor the system.
This is an ancient system, most of the work was done in the early 1990's, and the
system has been on autopilot for these past 15 years for the most part until this
past week or so, when things started breaking. I discovered the rootkit by looking
at the history list of the last root login, when I couldn't run ps. It appears to be a
hit-n-run, they found nothing, and left the system basically unusable.
The system
is so unusable it will be better to reformat the hard drives and reinstall the OS.
But whoever installed Informix did a good job setting it up. Reminds me of a
long time ago...
Anyway...the client has a plethora of 4GL programs, and using RDS, not compiled.
Much of the code looks like it was generated, and modified slightly, all
lower-case. It's an accounting application, but not 4Gen ( thank god ).
They have indicated that they would be agreeable to moving to a Linux machine, if
we can't build a replacement Sun machine, but I'm not sure about being able to
help them.
Can we get 4GL RDS for Linux? If not what are our options?
How much is a 1-CPU license for IDS on Linux? ( USD ) I've stumbled around
the IBM web site but can't find pricing. I'm figuring we'll need 4GL RDS,
or 4GL compiler, IDS 10 1-CPU, or perhaps, SE?
Maybe I should downshift them to Informix SE, and forget the online version,
it's mostly reports-n-such. Is there a 4GL developer's package deal with SE?
SE should scream with speed on a modern Linux box. The client doesn't have a
lot of cash to spend on an upgrade, so SE might not be a bad 'upgrade'.
Your help or .02 USD would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks-in-advance!
-DG-

Hi,

All pieces are available. I use RDS on SUSE Enterprise 9.0 with
IDS 10 or SE (7.25). Try to get a schema from the database and look for
IDS specific stuff.
IDS Workgroup Edition 10.0 is available up-to four cpus, which sounds
like plenty for you. If the application is mostly reporting i.e. not
much insert/delete activity (volume of transactions) then SE will be a
good, reliable and cheap choice. How large are the tables ? IDS beats SE
in that.

You can contact me offline and we can dig through PA to get pricing.

Michael

michaelk at sqlcanada dot com

[Data Goob]

Post by Michael Krzepkowski
Hi,
All pieces are available. I use RDS on SUSE Enterprise 9.0 with
IDS 10 or SE (7.25). Try to get a schema from the database and look for
IDS specific stuff.
IDS Workgroup Edition 10.0 is available up-to four cpus, which sounds
like plenty for you. If the application is mostly reporting i.e. not
much insert/delete activity (volume of transactions) then SE will be a
good, reliable and cheap choice. How large are the tables ? IDS beats SE
in that.
You can contact me offline and we can dig through PA to get pricing.
Michael
michaelk at sqlcanada dot com

Thanks,

I found the pricing, but Informix SE absent from the list...

Might be time for them to switch to Quickbooks...

-DG-

[Neil Truby]

Are you in the United States?

IDS 1-user is US$734 list ; 4GL dev US$1204; SE US$669.

Post by Data Goob
Ok,
So I stumbled onto some Informix work! yay! I got a call for help from someone
SunOS 5.7 Generic_106541-06 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-5_10
Informix Dynamic Server Version 7.30.UC7A
But it's not just any ancient system, it's been hacked...it's a Sun box that
has been rootkit'd. They did a good job of hosing up the system, but Informix
is still running. Unfortunately I can't use ps -ef to even see what is running,
they hosed up most of the commands necessary to monitor the system.
This is an ancient system, most of the work was done in the early 1990's, and the
system has been on autopilot for these past 15 years for the most part until this
past week or so, when things started breaking. I discovered the rootkit by looking
at the history list of the last root login, when I couldn't run ps. It appears to be a
hit-n-run, they found nothing, and left the system basically unusable.
The system
is so unusable it will be better to reformat the hard drives and reinstall the OS.
But whoever installed Informix did a good job setting it up. Reminds me of a
long time ago...
Anyway...the client has a plethora of 4GL programs, and using RDS, not compiled.
Much of the code looks like it was generated, and modified slightly, all
lower-case. It's an accounting application, but not 4Gen ( thank god ).
They have indicated that they would be agreeable to moving to a Linux machine, if
we can't build a replacement Sun machine, but I'm not sure about being able to
help them.
Can we get 4GL RDS for Linux? If not what are our options?
How much is a 1-CPU license for IDS on Linux? ( USD ) I've stumbled around
the IBM web site but can't find pricing. I'm figuring we'll need 4GL RDS,
or 4GL compiler, IDS 10 1-CPU, or perhaps, SE?
Maybe I should downshift them to Informix SE, and forget the online version,
it's mostly reports-n-such. Is there a 4GL developer's package deal with SE?
SE should scream with speed on a modern Linux box. The client doesn't have a
lot of cash to spend on an upgrade, so SE might not be a bad 'upgrade'.
Your help or .02 USD would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks-in-advance!
-DG-

[Data Goob]

Post by Neil Truby
Are you in the United States?

Yes.

Post by Neil Truby
IDS 1-user is US$734 list ; 4GL dev US$1204; SE US$669.

Thanks, I found some pricing...I was surprised to see pricing on IBM, it
wasn't there the last time I looked.

I found the engine pricing as well as the 4GL stuff. Pricing is a bit confusing.

Informix Dynamic Server:
INFORMIX DYNAMIC SERVER ENTERPRISE ED. UNLIMITED PROC LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DAXLL) 50,000.00
INFORMIX DYNAMIC SERVER ENTERPRISE ED CONCSESSION LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D5282LL) 2,065.00
INFORMIX DYNAMIC SERVER WORKGROUP ED. SERVER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DB5LL) 781.00
INFORMIX DYNAMIC SERVER WORKGROUP ED. CONC.SESSION LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DBDLL) 438.00
IDS WORKGROUP EDITION UNLIMITED PROCESSOR LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D53KKLL) 10,000.00


Informix Dynamic Server Express:
IDS EXPRESS EDITION UNLIMITED PROCESSOR LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D550BLL) 4,874.00
IDS EXPRESS EDITION AUTHORIZED USER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D5509LL) 124.00
IDS EXPRESS EDITION SERVER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D5507LL) 624.00


Informix Online Extended Edition:
INFORMIX ONLINE CONCURRENT SESSION LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DHNLL) 875.00

XPS:
INFORMIX EXTENDED PARALLEL SERVER (XPS) PROC LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DCRLL) 56,250.00

Incidentally, compare DB2 pricing vs Informix:

DB2 UDB ENTERPRISE SERVER EDITION PROCESSOR LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D518GLL) 33,125.00
DB2 UDB ENTP SVR ED DBSE PARTITIONING FTR PRO LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D518JLL) 9,950.00
DB2 GEODETIC EXTENDER PROCESSOR LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D53Y2LL) 9,375.00

DB2 UDB DATAWAREHOUSE STANDARD EDITION PROCESSOR LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D5290LL) 23,750.00

DB2 UDB WORKGROUP SERVER EDITION USER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D5B77LL) 311.00
DB2 UDB WORKGROUP SERVER EDITION SERVER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D5B7FLL) 1,211.00
DB2 UDB HIGH AVAILABILITY DISASTER RECOVERY LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D53Z9LL) 7,500.00

DB2 UNIVERSAL DATABASE EXPRESS EDITION SERVER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D52BILL) 624.00
DB2 UNIVERSAL DATABASE EXPRESS EDITION USER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D52BKLL) 124.00
DB2 UDB EXPRESS EDITION CPU OPTION PROCESSOR LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D535PLL) 4,874.00
DB2 UDB HIGH AVAILABILITY DISASTER RECOVERY LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D53Z9LL) 7,500.00


For the money you can get XPS equivalency in DB2 UDB Enterprise PLUS the Geodetic
extender and still come out considerably cheaper than XPS. In DB2 you get a lot more
advantages for the money... Hmmmmmm..... But it looks like the Express Edition for
DB2 is the same price as for Informix Express, both in the SQL-Server ballpark.


4GL

INFORMIX 4GL RDS RUNTIME PROCESSOR LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D51ILLL) 11,250.00
INFORMIX 4GL RDS DEVELOPMENT REGISTERED USER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DGALL) 1,125.00
INFORMIX 4GL RDS RUNTIME CONCURRENT SESSION LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DG2LL) 375.00
INFORMIX 4GL INTERACTVE DEBUGGR DEV REGISTERED USER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DFULL) 375.00

INFORMIX 4GL COMPILER RUNTIME PROCESSOR LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D51IILL) 11,250.00
INFORMIX 4GL COMPILER DEVELOPMENT REGISTERED USER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DFLLL) 1,125.00
INFORMIX 4GL COMPILER RUNTIME CONCURRENT SESSION LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DFDLL) 375.00


ISQL

INFORMIX SQL RUNTIME CONCURRENT SESSION LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DJHLL) 225.00
INFORMIX SQL DEVELOPMENT REGISTERED USER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D6DJ9LL) 675.00
SQL DEV ZSERIES (S/390) REG USER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D52AYLL) 675.00


There is a $11,250.00 price for either compiler or RDS, isn't this the
actual software, or is that something else? Do you need to get ESQL/C
if you buy the compiler version?

Thanks in advance...

-DG-

[scottishpoet]

Might be able to get a Linux/Informix package deal from IBM. They were
running some prgrammes toward the end of last year, not sure if they
are still running.

[Data Goob]

Post by scottishpoet
Might be able to get a Linux/Informix package deal from IBM. They were
running some prgrammes toward the end of last year, not sure if they
are still running.

Thanks,

I'll ask my IBM reseller, who is right down the street. Very surprised
to see the pricing for 4GL, I would have expected this to go Open Source
by now, but evidently they must still have a lot of customers to sell to
who need it.

-DG-

[Mike Aubury]

There is an open source Informix compatible 4GL - if you're interested...

(It also works quite well with Postgres :-)

Post by Data Goob

Post by scottishpoet
Might be able to get a Linux/Informix package deal from IBM. They were
running some prgrammes toward the end of last year, not sure if they
are still running.

Thanks,
I'll ask my IBM reseller, who is right down the street. Very surprised
to see the pricing for 4GL, I would have expected this to go Open Source
by now, but evidently they must still have a lot of customers to sell to
who need it.
-DG-

[Jack]

DG-
A CPU license for IDS on Linux has a couple of prices, depending on
what you really need. Do you need full-blown enterprise, with all the
replication features? You might be more interested in Workgroup. It is
available for smaller installs without the replication features. It's
also less than one fifth of IDS Enterprise. SE is available only on a
per user basis.

But another thing to consider is that this customer has existing
licensing. Does the customer own the product? If so, trade in credit
may be applied, depending on which database you go with.

I would be happy to give you pricing on any of this. Just give me a
call.

Jack Dotson
888-886-7722 x103

Post by Data Goob
How much is a 1-CPU license for IDS on Linux? ( USD ) I've stumbled around
the IBM web site but can't find pricing. I'm figuring we'll need 4GL RDS,
or 4GL compiler, IDS 10 1-CPU, or perhaps, SE?
Maybe I should downshift them to Informix SE, and forget the online version,
it's mostly reports-n-such. Is there a 4GL developer's package deal with SE?
SE should scream with speed on a modern Linux box. The client doesn't have a
lot of cash to spend on an upgrade, so SE might not be a bad 'upgrade'.
Your help or .02 USD would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks-in-advance!
-DG-

[rkusenet]

Post by Jack
A CPU license for IDS on Linux has a couple of prices, depending on
what you really need. Do you need full-blown enterprise, with all the
replication features? You might be more interested in Workgroup. It is
available for smaller installs without the replication features. It's

Are you sure that WGE can not be used for replication. AFAIK replication
(particularly HDR) is sold as a separate purchaseable unit with WGE. IIRC
1 CPU on the secondary server is priced and the secondary server
can not be used for read purpose. It will just be a standby server.

I heard a rumor that if the secondary server needs to be used as read only,
then full license is required on both primary and secondary. Assuming a
4 CPU box, that is license for 8 CPU. Still considerably cheaper than
enterprise edition for the same number of CPUs.

[Jack]

rkuse,
There is an HDR option for stand by purposes sold seperate now
available for IDS 10 WE (just came out a few months ago). But, it runs
7500 per CPU at list pricing. Yet, it is still cheaper than IDS EE.

[Neil Truby]

Post by Jack
rkuse,
There is an HDR option for stand by purposes sold seperate now
available for IDS 10 WE (just came out a few months ago). But, it runs
7500 per CPU at list pricing. Yet, it is still cheaper than IDS EE.

Well, indeed. IDS Workgroup Edition plus the HDR option is about one-third
the price of an Enterprise Edition licence. that has to be a good thing for
Informix, surely?

[Jack]

DG-
Not sure if my message came through last time so I will repost. There
are a couple of different options for you. Informix Dynamic Server
Enterprise Edition is about 50k at list price. But, you could probably
do this on Workgroup, which is available for a fraction of the cost. SE
is available only on concurrent session licensing and runs around 300
per user for Runtimes.

Depending on what you are looking to do, if you choose to stay on IDS
EE, you may be able to get credit for the existing product. Does your
company own the product?

If you like I can give you exact pricing and discuss all your options
in detail. My company specializes in reselling Informix.

Thanks,
Jack Dotson
Kazer Corp.
888-886-7722

Post by Data Goob
Ok,
So I stumbled onto some Informix work! yay! I got a call for help from someone
SunOS 5.7 Generic_106541-06 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-5_10
Informix Dynamic Server Version 7.30.UC7A
But it's not just any ancient system, it's been hacked...it's a Sun box that
has been rootkit'd. They did a good job of hosing up the system, but Informix
is still running. Unfortunately I can't use ps -ef to even see what is running,
they hosed up most of the commands necessary to monitor the system.
This is an ancient system, most of the work was done in the early 1990's, and the
system has been on autopilot for these past 15 years for the most part until this
past week or so, when things started breaking. I discovered the rootkit by looking
at the history list of the last root login, when I couldn't run ps. It appears to be a
hit-n-run, they found nothing, and left the system basically unusable. The system
is so unusable it will be better to reformat the hard drives and reinstall the OS.
But whoever installed Informix did a good job setting it up. Reminds me of a
long time ago...
Anyway...the client has a plethora of 4GL programs, and using RDS, not compiled.
Much of the code looks like it was generated, and modified slightly, all
lower-case. It's an accounting application, but not 4Gen ( thank god ).
They have indicated that they would be agreeable to moving to a Linux machine, if
we can't build a replacement Sun machine, but I'm not sure about being able to
help them.
Can we get 4GL RDS for Linux? If not what are our options?
How much is a 1-CPU license for IDS on Linux? ( USD ) I've stumbled around
the IBM web site but can't find pricing. I'm figuring we'll need 4GL RDS,
or 4GL compiler, IDS 10 1-CPU, or perhaps, SE?
Maybe I should downshift them to Informix SE, and forget the online version,
it's mostly reports-n-such. Is there a 4GL developer's package deal with SE?
SE should scream with speed on a modern Linux box. The client doesn't have a
lot of cash to spend on an upgrade, so SE might not be a bad 'upgrade'.
Your help or .02 USD would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks-in-advance!
-DG-