Operations Console is an installable component of iSeries™ Access for Windows®. It allows you to use one or more PCs to access and control, either remotely or locally, console and control panel functions.
For IBM System i5™ and eServer™ i5 models, you can use Operations Console to manage i5/OS® in a partitioned or nonpartitioned environment. In a partitioned environment, you might want to use the Hardware Management Console or the Advanced System Management Interface to access your hardware. If you plan to use Operations Console to manage a 270 or 8xx server, see the Operations Console information in the iSeries Information Center.
Operations Console uses 5250 emulation provided by either iSeries Access for Windows or IBM® Personal Communications to emulate a console. To emulate a server control panel, Operations Console provides a graphical remote control panel or virtual control panel. Operations Console can use a local area network (LAN) or direct cable attachment to enable communications between a server and a PC. It supports dial-in connections from remote PCs to PCs that are directly attached to servers. These remote PCs can then function as a console.
Operations Console works well when the system has several partitions and requires high availability. In this type of environment, the Hardware Management Console (HMC) can be overwhelmed by multiple console windows. The Operations Console is able to distribute the consoles for these partitions over multiple PCs. If a problem occurs with Operations Console or console-related hardware, the HMC can be made the backup console and requires no extra effort to quickly retrieve a console again.
This topic provides you with information and instructions to plan, set up, and manage Operations Console: