Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) IBM surprised us all this week with the announcement that the Power7 servers would be introduced in February--much earlier than anyone expected. A Valentine's Day present perhaps? Whether the entire lineup will roll out simultaneously is yet to be determined and what's behind the decision to introduce them sooner rather than later remains speculative. Here's what is known as well as what we might expect. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The early show at IBM is also playing out in terms of the 7.1 release of the Power Systems i operating system. Although unannounced at this time, insider information from sources who prefer to remain anonymous has the new i/OS on a schedule that will make it available in April, just ahead of the COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition that raises its curtain on May 3 in Orlando. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Software and services have been the meal ticket for IBM profitability during the past decade. The latest round of quarterly financial reporting proves that once again. Although sales are down, stockholders are pleased to see net income has climbed. For those huddled under the Power Systems tent, there were cheers when two more points of market share were snatched from the competition. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) With the news that Power7 boxes would be coming in just a few weeks, there was minimal specific details on which machines will be available at that time. That leaves time to cogitate, deliberate, and maybe even ratiocinate on what could and what should roll out. Here are an unmarked bag full of features and functions we could see on the new midrange servers. READ MORE >

(Newsweek) Sam Palmisano's ideas about a Smarter Planet enjoyed a big splash in the national media last week. And you have to believe Sam is pretty pleased about that. After all, his name is on the byline. The IBM chairman, CEO, and major news magazine author postulates about cities that are quick to take advantage of technology, predicting they will surpass in importance those that dawdle with infrastructure upgrades. Sam says this will be especially true in important areas such as transportation, energy and water, health care, and education. READ MORE >

(Search Engine Land) Cloud computing surrounds IBM's Smart Planet. The Big Blue vision of future sees companies getting smart by building clouds. Some on their side of the firewall, others accessing the IBM cloud. Either choice leads to reduced IT costs and complexities, so the story goes, while improving workload optimization and service delivery. Google has one of the highest profile cloud offerings, and when it was hacked, some folks became a little nervous about all things cloudy. READ MORE >

(System iNetwork) IT training can be an eye-opening experience. But even veteran RPG and IBM i trainer Bryan Meyers never anticipated anything like this. He was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the day the earthquake struck. If you know Meyers through his training, his technical books, or his contributions to System iNetwork publications, you'll get a connection to the calamity that is taken from his correspondence to family and friends. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) What are companies doing to ensure that critical online operations remain operational when under attack from cyber criminals? The obvious answer is that they are strengthening their information security systems. An important line of defense is the detection of unauthorized changes to configuration settings. Not being alert to who is accessing systems and what they are doing is a weakness in many systems. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Organizations implement high availability to assure that critical applications and current data remain accessible in the event of a system failure. The key is having the backup system in sync with the primary production server when the switchover becomes necessary. Monitoring the systems is an absolute requirement. How the monitoring is accomplished is up to the user. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) While we're on the subject of maximum uptime (and some companies are relentless about this), let's consider replicating the contents of a job queue as part of the requirement. Job queue contents can be lost in the course of a rebuild. System managers with constant concerns about uptime should be happy to hear about automation that will handle job queue replication. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The fifth generation of the Linear Tape-Open alternative to IBM's Magstar 3480 tape drive platforms and other proprietary magnetic tape formats was just introduced. Naturally, performance has been accelerated, but the numbers are not quite up to expectations. Close, but no cigar. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Coincidentally, IBM says it has a technological advancement in linear tape design that will allow tape cartridges to hold 35 TB of uncompressed data. The new LTO Gen 5 design (noted one story above) will store 1.5 TB of data on a single cartridge. IBM says its new LTO design will bring subsequent gains in storage capacity for many years into the future. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(YiPs) webERP, an open source, Web-based accounting/ERP package, is now available as a no-cost download in the Open Source Sandbox for i on the Young i Professionals Web site. It has a range of features suitable for many organizations, particularly distributed businesses in wholesale and distribution. A Web browser and a PDF reader are the only requirements to test it. READ MORE >

(VAI) Streamlined operations and access to accurate, real-time data can provide significant time and money savings, improved customer service capabilities, and optimized inventory levels in manufacturing and distribution environments. This white paper examines how that can be accomplished and also takes into account the minimizing of environmental impacts and the potential for competitive advantage. READ MORE >

(IBM) It may come as a surprise that IBM has a strategy and roadmap for its i operating environment. But it must be true because there's a white paper that says so. This report includes info on Power Systems, the integrated operating system known as IBM i, and software from Big Blue as well as some of the ISVs. READ MORE >

(PowerTech) Many companies rely on security information and event management (SIEM) solutions to comply with security policies and mandated regulations. This paper discusses why SIEM solutions often offer limited coverage for the System i (AS/400), and emphasizes technical issues relevant to logging security data on the System i (AS/400). It also offers advice for developing real-time awareness of security events as they happen on the System i and provides information on integrating SIEM solutions. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

See our full calendar of events at
http://www.itjungle.com/fhm/fhm-calendar.html

February 2 -- Webinar - The latest Power Systems virtualization capabilities will be discussed by IBM's Vess Natchev, an IT consultant with Systems Lab Services and Training in Rochester, during this one-hour online session beginning at noon Central time. Topics to be discussed include the use of N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV), redundant Virtual I/O Server configurations, end-to-end device mapping, and Systems Director VMControl. Follow this link for registration. Although this is a COMMON user group event, membership is not required. LEARN MORE >

February 5 -- Sparks, Nevada - The Reno-Sparks Midrange User Group meeting features a presentation on software maintenance strategy and PDFs. Guest speaker is Clark Scholten. The meeting beings at 11:30 a.m. and is held at the Scolaris Company headquarters located at 255 South McCarran Boulevard. LEARN MORE >

February 11 -- St. Louis, Missouri - Scott Klement, IT manager and senior programmer at Klement Sausage Company, will be discussing patterns for reusable RPG and RPG user defined functions and table functions at the monthly meeting of the Gateway/400 Group, a System i user group serving the greater St. Louis area. The meeting begins with lunch at noon and the presentations following lunch. RSVP no later than Monday before the meeting date. There's a new meeting location this month Spazios Restaurant in the Comfort Inn located at 12031 Lackland Road in Westport. LEARN MORE >

February 11 -- Webinar - Upgrading or consolidating existing terminal emulation solutions are the focus of this online session hosted by Open Text. Topics include choosing between thin client and fat clients, understanding the difference between Web-to-host and desktop solutions, and evaluating existing infrastructure. The presentation begins at 11 a.m. EST. Jonathan Carroll, a senior director of research and development at Open Text will lead the session. LEARN MORE >

February 11 -- Wauwatosa, Wisconsin - Two topics--using PHP on IBM i to create mobile applications and re-architecting IBM i applications for the Web using PHP will be discussed at the monthly meeting of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association. Guest speaker is Lane Nelson of Harris Data. The meeting begins at 4 p.m. at Alioto's Restaurant located at 3041 North Mayfair Road. LEARN MORE >

February 16 -- Bloomington, Minnesota - SQL fundamentals will be the featured topic at the regularly scheduled QUSER local user group meeting. The meeting takes place at noon at the Comfort Inn located at 1321 East 78th Street. LEARN MORE >

February 17 -- Markham, Ontario, Canada - George Farr, IBM World Wide Power System Segment Leader, and Mark Buchner, Toronto User Group executive director, will be discussing the next generation of Systems and Development tooling at the monthly TUG meeting of the members. The focus will be on IBM i strategy for Rational and IBM Power Systems. The event begins at 1 p.m. at the IBM Canada Software Lab. LEARN MORE >