Subject: RE: FAA Computer glitch
From: Ken McCall (klmccall@verizon.net)
Date: Fri Nov 20 2009 - 13:09:52 EST
Note that the articles point out that the previous mainframe system was an old Phillips box, not IBM. Perhaps the FAA should have replaced it with System z instead. IMHO, FlexES would also have been a better replacement, (rare) dongle failures notwithstanding. --- Forwarded on behalf of Doug Harrell, VP of Sales - System z, Mainline Information Systems: For those of you who were wondering what was the cause of major delays yesterday in US flights.....I think the article below clearly states the issue! I have copied a key paragraph for you to form your own opinion of the problem: This was the second time in 15 months that a problem with the flight-plan system caused major delays. The FAA, which used a mainframe system to run the flight-plan system from 1988 to 2008, switched to a new server-based system earlier in 2009. See full article below: FAA Flight-Plan System Crashes Again, Delays Hundreds of US Flights eWeek The FAA, which used a mainframe system to run the flight-plan system from 1988 to 2008, switched to a new server-based system earlier in 2009 in an attempt ... See all stories on this topic Ken McCall Mainline Information Systems, Inc. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Eheman" <eheman@funsoft.com> To: "VSE Discussion List" <vse-l@Lehigh.EDU> Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 9:01 AM Subject: RE: FAA Computer glitch > Ah, the downside of choosing DIGEST mode for a list. You miss out on the > opportunity to squelch wrong info until the next day. > > > Kevin Corkery wrote: >> Isn't the computer that handles the automated flight plan stuff a Flex-ES >> system? >> I guess nobody wanted to admit "it's a bad dongle" ;-) > > Winky icon or not, I can't let misinformation go unanswered because of the "I > saw it on VSE-L so it must true" phenomenon. FSI dongle failures are very few > and far between. If they do occur then for supported commercial customers there > is a disaster implementation that can be implemented to get the customer up > within minutes of a bad dongle diagnosis. > > Kevin Corkery later wrote: >> I could be wrong but I recall that Flex was sold on one of those NumaQ >> systems for the FAA; new hardware, old software so to speak. In any case, I >> could be mistaken about this. > > They formerly ran the "Notice To Airman System" (NOTAMS) on a Sequent vintage > NUMA server with FLEX-ES that was installed before the IBM acquisition of > Sequent. To the best of my knowledge, that system was migrated to another > platform a few years ago. NOTAMS is a notification system and is way out of > context for the failure that seems to have occurred yesterday. > > Jeff Barnard wrote: >> The FAA said the computer problem, which lasted about four hours, was fixed >> around 9 a.m. EST. It started when a single circuit board in a piece of >> networking equipment at a computer center in Salt Lake City failed, the FAA >> said in a statement. > > Sounds plausible to me since there were zero support calls here yesterday. > Somebody is likely having a really bad day over yesterday's failure, but it > isn't FSI. > > > -- > Gary Eheman > Fundamental Software, Inc. > http://www.funsoft.com
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