Initial Panel

RISC Analysis Downloads Page

General Info:

All installs of RISC Analysis require registration.

In 'demo mode', the standard activation period is two weeks, but can be extended on request.

Installer File:

The installer file is: rsanfull.exe

This file should be saved to a folder your computer.

To save the file, Right Click the above link and select 'download' or 'save'.

Note: do not just click the link and 'run from web'. Always save any exe file to a downloads folder first.

Run from web will cause Windows to install to a virtual folder, and may result in set-up and update issues.

Once the download has finished, locate the saved file and double click to begin install.

Other Files:

Current Version Release Notes (pdf)

Win7/Vista Quick Start (pdf)

Other Win7/Vista Issues (pdf)

General Installation Notes (pdf)

Licensing Overview (pdf)

Configuring MSIE (pdf)
(tips for cache & proxy settings)

Fee Calculators (xls spreadsheets):

Style #1 (List user names)

Style #2 (user quantities only)

Diagnostics Tool (Reqs Full RISC Install)
Systest.exe

RISC Analysis Standard User Fees

All fees are annual and in US Dollars

Fee Schedule
Code	Description	Annual Fee
M1	Base Registration (0 License Activations)	2,000.00
E1	Loyalty Credit (Current Clients)	(750.00)
L1	Dedicated User License	500.00
L3	3-Pack Group User License	750.00
A1	Additional Group User	200.00

Discount Schedule
Qty L1/L3	Discount %	Resulting M1 Fee
		Existing Clients	New Clients
3	15%	1,062.50	1,700.00
4-5	30%	875.00	1,400.00
6-7	50%	625.00	1,000.00
8-9	70%	375.00	600.00
10-14	80%	250.00	400.00
>15	100%	0.00	0.00

See below for definitions and fee calculators

Volume Discounts.

Depending upon the number of L1 or L3 Licenses,
the M1 Base Registration Fee will be discounted.

(M1 Discounts are applied after any Loyalty credit)

Fee Calculators:

Two '.xls' spreadsheets are available to assist in
estimating RISC Analysis user fees.

Calc #1	Allows entering user names and assigning as 'Dedicated' or 'Group'.
Calc #2	Allows entering quantities/type of user only.

Additional Info:

Licensing Overview (pdf)

Definitions
Code	Usage	Description
M1	Registration	The M1 Registration fee is the base annual service fee without any license activations. The M1 fee is per client organization
L1	Dedicated User	Dedicated users are normal software users. They can not be 'de-activated' by other users.
L3	3-Pack Group User	The L3 3-Pack Group License includes up to three users in a 'Group'. Only one member of the group may be the 'active' member. A user in the Group will 'de-activate' other members when starting RISC Analysis. A persistent internet connection is required for Group users. There is no limit to the number of Groups per client, and no limit to the number of users in a Group.
A1	Additional Group User	If more than 3 users are required in a group, additional group users may be ordered via the A1 Additional User.

About RISC Analysis

Contact Information:

Windgate Software LLC
8513 Parkfield Drive,
Austin TX 78758 USA

Tel: (USA) 512-474-6161
Fax:(USA) 651-204-2130

info@riscanalysis.com

RISCAnalysis^TM
Copyright © Windgate Software LLC. 1994-2016
All rights reserved.

RS/6000, pSeries & AIX are registered trademarks of IBM Corporation.

For other IBM trademark info click here.

Errors and Ommisions:

While every effort has been made to resolve errors, Windgate Software LLC accepts no responsibility for any inaccuracies, nor any claims of loss resulting from use of RISC Analysis.

Use of RISC Analysis constitutes acceptance of the above.

A brief overview of RISC Analysis

RISC Analysis is a database of information, specific to IBM's Mid-Range Systems.

These systems fall under the IBM Trademark names of:

RS/6000, pSeries, and Power Systems (AIX).
AS/400, iSeries and System i (OS400 and i O/S)

The RISC Analysis db contains descriptions of Machines, Models and Feature Codes, along with PNs, FRUs and CCINs.

The majority of MT, MD and FC descriptions are based upon our own study of these systems, and as such, do not contain many of the errors which seem to be more and more common with IBM's published materials.

The same is true of our PN and FRU data. The vast majority of PNs and FRUs contained in RISC Analysis have never been published by IBM. (Were it not for some of our more over-zealous and less value aware clients, most of them would not exist on the web either).

Since 1994, RISC Analysis has been distributed as a desktop software program for installation to Windows based computers.

Between 1997 and 2006, RISC Analysis was also available on-line. In fact, we were among the first thousand or so fully fledged user interactive databases to be on-line back then.

11 Years later, we are back on the web with RISC Analysis, and as before, we are using innovative techniques to deliver content. The new On-Line version is RISC Analysis DataBox.

An Apology

Criticism can be hard to face, even when one believes one is on solid ground.

It becomes much harder when one is fully aware that the critisism is justified.

This is my mia culpa.

Certainly, I am aware that we dropped the ball in the past year or so on keeping RISC Analysis fully updated. For that, I greatly apologize to all of our clients.

Without wishing to make excuses, the lack of data updates was not due laziness or a lack of dilligence. It was a deliberate choice.

To explain, for some time it had been evident that RISC Analysis, as a stand alone desktop program, is rapidly approaching an end-of-life situation.

The advent of mobile computing has made redundant the notion of a software program supported only on a single O/S (Windows). This was not true 10 years ago - because everone in our world used Windows based PCs.

Since the need to access data across multiple devices is now paramount, and given that Microsoft had stated that in the future they would be looking to implement Apple's App Store model, we had to make a choice.

Either keep focus on current data (which is a full time operation) or step back from that and re-tool and re-code.

Toward the end of 2015 we had been documenting and including the early Power8 Systems and those systems were included in RISC from mid 2015.

But, in early 2016 I saw a couple of statements from Microsoft that made me realize that re-coding was urgent.

Converting any program from one one language to another is not an easy task.

We settled on javascript as the language of choice because it is device independent, as opposed to writing dedicated apps for each of the platform providors.

Additionally, with html5, it is possible to do things today in javascript that were not possible just a few years ago.

Although we could have had a basic site ready in about 8 months, we really wanted to present something more unique. For example, the movable/sizable search results panels, intelligent search algorithms, and ultra fast re-sorting of data in list panels.

However, these things took time and required additional coding around the quirks in the various browser implemntations of javascript.

I believe the end result of all this effort presents a web based application which is second to none in terms of speed, efficiency, and innovation.

Although we regret and apologize for the delay in adding significant new data over the past year, building the new web application required full commitment.

As of April 2017, all data is again current.

We hope our clients agree that the delay was worth the wait, and we welcome any feedback regarding RISC Analysis, or the new web application, RISC Analysis DataBox.

What is DataBox?

RISC Analysis DataBox is the new Web Application version of RISC Analysis Desktop.

DataBox can be used with all 'Modern Browsers' with the exception of Microsoft Internet Explorer.
This is by design choice at this time.

DataBox can be used with all current mobile devices (with the exception of Microsoft Phones).

For subscriber clients, DataBox includes the same Data, FRUs, PNs etc. as the Desktop Version.

DataBox is primarily divided into two sections.

Subscriber Access:
Includes MT-MD and FC Descriptions, along with PNs, FRUs, Pricing etc.

Public Access:
Unlike previous iterations of RISC Analysis, DataBox makes available our proprietary MT-MD and FC descriptions, along with limited MTMD to FC look-up, and links to directly to IBM resources.

Future of the Desktop Version

We've been asked this a lot, as we roll-out RISC Analysis DataBox.

The sad truth is that the desktop version of RISC Analysis is probably approaching an end-of-life situation in its current format.

This is partly because the computing world has changed significantly over the past several years and we have many clients who need mobile device access.

At this time, the desktop version is tied to the Microsoft Windows platform, which is only really functional as an O/S on desktop/laptops or Surface tablets.

Maintaining both an on-line and a desktop version is problematic because the underlying structure is different. Having said that, the differences are not insurmountable, and the additional overhead of maintaining both is not a major concern.

Also, we are aware that some of our maintenance clients have their own clients who (because of legitimate security concerns) do not allow internet access while on-site.

Therefore, we will continue the desktop version for as long as we can in the VB format.

We are working on a javascript based (full implementation) desktop version. We just need to balance encryption, compression and speed.

That's the short answer.

If you are interested in a longer, more in-depth in-depth answer regarding the desktop version, see below.

The biggest impediments to a continued desktop version are caused by Microsoft, for two different reasons.

First, the underlying database for RISC Analysis is an MS-Access mdb using the ms-access run-time executible. More specifically, it is an Access 97 database using VB5.

Why on earth are you still using that?

Good question. We have several reasons, most of which are more technical than we need to get into here.

To be honest, we would use a later version if Microsoft actually addressed the problems each subsequent release of ms-access created. Quite frankly, VB6 in Access 2000 is much better than VB5 in A97, and there some benefits to .Net as the coding language used in later versions.

But, bottom line is that A97 continued to be mostly less problematic, and could do some things that later versions could not.

Today, the biggest issue with switching to a newer version is the run-time executable, which is required to drive the code and the database.

With A97, the run-time is about 2mb. For A2016, it is over 200mb for the 32-bit version and over 300mb for the 64-bit version. That's over 10 times the actual data!

Additionally, any post Access 2010 runtime is not comaptible with Microsoft Office 365 (with the same version number). Does Microsoft really expect us to dictate that a client having switched to Office 365 has to change back to retail Office?

For our purposes, while we would love to use some of the newer functionality of later versions, access97 does what we need it to do, and it does it well.

We constantly look at other relational database offerings as a replacement, but none of them are as good as MS-Access.

So, we are still using Access 97, and the first impediment we see from Microsoft is driver support.

Since Windows 8, Microsoft have stated that office97 drivers and dlls are not supported on any O/S above Win7. Although, if one really qualifies this, Microsoft say that the drivers are not technically supported but are still allowed at this time. But, Microsoft reserves the right delete unsupported drivers.

If Microsoft ever do pull the drivers, and in the absense of a decent non Microsoft Desktop Relational Database, then the desktop version of RISC Analysis will be done.

The second impediment to a continued desktop version of RISC is connected to Microsoft's rather ambiguous statements regarding third party software, and Windows itself.

Third Party Software

In early 2016, we saw a statement from a Microsoft exec stating that ultimately, Windows 10 would be an 'App Store' based solution for third party software, whereby all software would only be available from the Microsoft App Store. Microsoft's fee for App Store content (like Apple) is around 30%.

As much as I would love to give Microsoft 30% of our revenue for doing nothing, we kinda need that for things like groceries and health insurance. We don't even make 30% net.

Windows itself

In a similar Microsoft musing at around the same time, the MS statemanet was that ultimately Windows would be an SaaS offering. SaaS is Software as a Service. For example, Office 365 is a SaaS offering.

With SaaS, you do not install software to a local drive. Everything is 'in the cloud', which means that it is parked on a server somewhere else and you pay a subscription for access to the program - in this case, Windows itself.

At the time, I thought that was a bullshit notion because if the O/S is in the cloud, then every document that you create is either in the cloud, or is at least propagated to 'the Cloud'.

Who in their right mind would allow potentially confidential information to be just parked on some other guy's computer? (and mostly unencrypted).

Apparently, a lot of people. A few weeks ago, Microsoft rolled out some Windows 10 SaaS offerings.

If, let's say in 3 or 4 years, Microsoft Windows is only available as a Cloud Based SaaS offering, and all 3rd party software is consequently limited to what they allow, then we, I guess like most Independent Software Vendors, will no longer be able to offer our unique products for the Windows O/S.

On the other hand, if the Linux guys ever collectively get their crap together, and offer an O/S which does not require command line gobbledy-gook to install a driver or program, then maybe they will be ready to take over.

I'm not ragging on Linux but, yes, while it is okay for geeks and semi geeks, Aunt Milly can't be using a command prompt to do something which should have a GUI to handle.

Msg to Linux. Quit being so geek proud and provide more user friendly methods!