Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(MCPress) That 40-user limit on the System i Express Model 515 hasn't weathered the storm very well and so IBM is removing it. What's the use of having an entry-level server if the entry-level customers can't afford it, right? The System i honchos are still tinkering with prices and models to figure out the correct formula. If you are buying a low-end box, you'd better keep up with the moves IBM is making. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) It's due. In fact, it's overdue. Small form factor Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) disk drives need to be available to the System i customers. When cutting-edge storage technology bypasses this platform, it's a sad day in Rochester. Shame on you, Big Blue. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Comparing the costs of a voice over IP telephony system with a PBX system can yield some eye-opening savings. It's enough to get the attention of any CEO with a penchant for grinding down expenses and sharpening profits. As with 99 percent of IT projects, however, there is both the little picture and the big picture. This article wraps up a three-part series on VoIP on the IBM System i. READ MORE >

(System iNetwork) In the early going, buyers and tire kickers of the i515 and i525 models seem to be more impressed with the pricing than the performance. At least that's the opinion of a few folks that have a good view of what's going on in the market. And, in case you were wondering, most sales are to the installed base as opposed to new customers. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Expect to hear more about PHP, the widely used general purpose scripting language that is in the process of building support among the System i faithful, as a Web development option. Zend Technologies, the originator of PHP, and the COMMON user group for System i professionals, are uniting efforts to promote the open source technology. Many experts believe PHP will eventually gain a great deal of support in the i5/OS developer community. READ MORE >

(MCPress) If your company uses high availability products that were sold and supported by iTera or Lakeview Technology or Vision Solutions, should you be worried now that Thoma Cressey Bravo has purchased each of those software vendors? Alan Arnold, VP and CTO at Vision Solutions, says "nothing is going away." The support centers and the business partners will remain and support will not be consolidated. No worries. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) At the Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California sits IBM's Blue Gene/P massively parallel supercomputer featuring 4,096 processor cores in a rack and 216 racks. Do the math (in your head) and, if you're really good, you'll come up with 884,736 cores. Technically, that's referred to as a boatload. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, Blue Gene/P has the capability to become the first computer to break through the 1 petaflops barrier. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) Dashboard, smashboard . . . without the capability to tap into transactional data, business analysis is destined to remain at the elementary level. Fast online access to a correctly configured multidimensional database beats the daylights out of a lot of dashboards tied to so-called business intelligence products. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Logical partitioning makes it possible to manage multiple applications and multiple environments on the System i. This underutilized tool provides a huge advantage to those who have mastered its complexities. One of those hurdles is backup and recovery for each partition. Well, that hurdle has just been lowered. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Speaking of backup and recovery, some folks are getting hung out to dry when it comes to backing up remote offices, warehouses, and factories. You're not one of those companies that neglects its remote servers, are you? It's time you explored the possibilities that a designated central server and a wide area network can bring. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) Here's a variation on an old rhyme that you might recall. You'll have to guess the old one after you hear the new one, which goes like this: Web candy might be dandy, but Quickr is slicker. (By the way, this is not endorsed by IBM Lotus, which has just introduced its latest, greatest collaboration tool called Quickr.) Find out here what it can do for you. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) J.D. Edwards EnterpriseOne customers are being offered a new supply chain planning application that uses the same demand and master data as Oracle's ERP products that run on the System i, Windows, and Unix operating systems. The software is designed to assist in predicting product demand and profitability and manage complex global supply chains. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(ROBOdrs) Forget the hassles of tape backups. Here are three white papers on the topic of remote online backup offered by this backup and restore technology company known as ROBOdrs. The specific topic areas include desktop backup, remote office backup, and mobile computing backup. READ MORE >

(BOSaNOVA) When it comes to data security, it is necessary to take steps beyond firewalls, virtual private networks, and intrusion prevention systems. That's why the topic of data encryption has gained so much attention. This white paper looks at risk assessment and regulatory compliance while make a strong case for encryption. READ MORE >

(IBM) Preparing the System i i5/OS environment before starting the installation and configuration of WebSphere Portal Express Version 6 is a necessary first step before attempting to deploy it into a production environment. Included in this redpaper are explanations for configuring SSL to protect sensitive login information and performing a save of a WebSphere Portal Express V6 profile while it is online and actively in use. READ MORE >

(IBM) Upgrading from an existing AS/400e or iSeries server to a new model ranges from simple to complex. If you are going to make a plan for this migration (and pity those who don't make a plan), this redbook should save you all kinds of aggravation. You'll appreciate the insights into V5R4 and its new features such as thin console support, tape encryption, and i5 disk. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

July 16 -- Irvine, California - The annual one-day OCEAN Technical Conference will include technical sessions by Bob Cozzi, Bob Tipton, Trevor Perry, Alison Butterill, Scott Klement and others. Traditional RPG developer and infrastructure classes are on the agenda and there will be sessions on new technology and development approaches as well. Reservations before July 1 are eligible for a discount price. The event also includes a Vendor Expo. It will be held at the Hyatt Regency. LEARN MORE >

July 16 -- San Francisco, California -- ASNA, iSeries Modernization Technical Seminar. Unlock, extend, and leverage the value of your iSeries to enable business change! This one day iSeries modernization event introduces you to Web Services expands the definition of modernization unravels SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) while explaining how you can use your team's skills to take advantage of all of the benefits of these new technologies. LEARN MORE >

July 19 -- Webinar - This session, hosted by New Generation Software highlights financial performance reporting and analysis for the System i. It is designed for companies and ISVs that need to modernize and streamline their financial reporting and analytics without moving their general ledger data off the System i. Topics of discussion will include NGS Web portals, reports and analysis built over a DB2 data mart, and business intelligence application development tools. Samples of financial performance dashboards and OLAP models and Microsoft Excel-based financial reports will be included. The session begins a 2 p.m. EDT. LEARN MORE >

July 19 -- Webcast - An online session on IP telephony on System i, presented by Erik Papir of 3Com, is being hosted by the COMMON user group. The discussion will provide an overview of IP telephony, and SIP and application integration will be discussed in detail. This session will also cover the different deployment scenarios for IP telephony to provide redundancy on the System i. You must be a COMMON member to participate. The event begins at noon CDT. LEARN MORE >

August 12-17 -- San Diego - IBM technical training tailored for enterprise-class IT professionals will be featured at the SHARE user conference. More than 700 technical sessions and hands-on labs will be presented by industry experts, top developers, and experienced users. Session topics range from implementation of new software releases to in-depth views of the latest technologies. Session topics will include services-oriented architecture, Web services, ITIL, and mobile computing. If you don't know about SHARE, you should. It has been educating IT professionals since 1955--the longest history of any IT user group. LEARN MORE >