Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) Blade servers are the greatest thing since the George Foreman lean mean fat-grilling machine. That's a powerful claim, but I'm going to stick with it. I wish the hired guns over at Gartner had said it first, but they took the easy way out and said something along the lines of blade servers are selling pretty well, but could be doing a whole lot better if the technology wasn't missing a few teeth. That's not to say blade server users have bit off more than they can chew, it's just an advisory that new teeth will be available soon. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The economic, operational, and technical benefits of virtualization places a heavy load on processors, memory, disk capacity, and I/O bandwidth. So IBM is reducing memory prices on Power Systems Power6-based servers and the System p and System i servers that share the same type of memory cards. Will it be the right bait to lure customers to virtualization and workload consolidation? Better than fishing with a bare hook. That much is certain. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM believes that System i database modernization is very important, but has done little to promote this issue or reduce its complexity. Several years ago, and for a variety of reasons, it put its research and development money into SQL-based databases. Not many folks have noticed or have seen the value in following this lead. Why would they? Why should they? And, what's affecting the decisions of companies looking at their IT future? READ MORE >

(The Industry Standard) The trouble with most disaster preparedness plans is that you really don't know how prepared you are until disaster strikes. But based on current datacenter growth levels, it doesn't take a leap of faith to predict a great many datacenters are not designed to handle expected growth. Not only will companies wrestle with information technology requirements, but the power grid will have its hands full as well. READ MORE >

(Network World) I'm not a big fan of predictions. And I'm no fan at all when predictions have the appearance of being self-serving marketing instruments. For the past 10 years, IBM has been a cheerleader for Linux and open source because it's the best anti-Microsoft strategy the company could invest in. So what IBM's vice president of open source and standards "predicts" for the next decade is as much "wish list" as anything else. We'd hear an equal amount of malarky if a Microsoft VP predicted the future of Windows. But don't listen to me. Read the predictions and make your judgments. READ MORE >

(ChannelWeb) Since its second quarter financial reports were released, IBM has staged road shows with partners across Europe to capitalize on the success of the Power Systems platform. What's missing from this report is whether IBM skewed its interpretation of the numbers to reflect poorly on the System i side and to pump up the p side. If you've been reading articles on this topic that Four Hundred Monitor has featured recently you know what I'm talking about. READ MORE >

(MCPress) Major companies like Delta Airlines, Bank of America, and Chevron have taken on environmental initiatives with the conservation of resources in mind. Among the System i vendor community, inFORM Decisions is making changes that help the cause as well. IFD president Dan Forster explains in this article the good that can be accomplished--as well as the money that can be saved by trimming waste--when environmentalism is taken into account at work. READ MORE >

Vendor Announcements, Promotions, and Deals

(IT Jungle) I know you won't be too surprised when I say statistics can be twisted to make almost any point of view seem overloaded with supportive evidence. Not that IBM or any of its competitors are ever guilty of this, but it is worth noting that Big Blue is touting rather amazing adoption rates of its virtualization hypervisor among its customer base, particularly in it Power Systems division. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) IBM has put out the welcome mat in front of its new application development safe zone, which goes by the name of the Enterprise Modernization Sandbox. Go there and you can experiment with the newest application modernization tools from the IBM Rational division. You'll find tutorials and multiple sandboxes that allow live test environments without downloading software on your own servers. READ MORE >

(IT Jungle) The Asia/Pacific region seems to be a hot spot on the Power Systems global map. The resellers and the ISVs are churning out press releases about developments in that area faster than Michael Phelps is winning gold medals in China. High availability software maker Vision Solutions is the latest to announce a partnership in the region. I wonder what the job market is like in Tahiti? READ MORE >

BluePhoenix, a company that entered the System i market during the summer of 2007 when it acquired ASNA and its tools that move RPG applications to Windows and .NET, has a new president. Yaron Tchwella, the new president, is a services-oriented IT industry veteran with many years of executive management. Outside of the System i market, BluePhoenix develops and sells modernization tools for mainframe applications. READ MORE >

Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(IBM) Database modernization has to do with defining databases, screens, and reports so that applications can use SQL as the database access method. Most System i users are familiar with the built-in relational database management system (RDMS) that uses data description specifications (DDS) to define the database physical and logical files. This Redbook provides tips and techniques for modernizing applications to use SQL data definition language (DDL) as the database access method. READ MORE >

(Databorough) "Modernizing and Improving the Maintainability of RPG Applications Using X-Analysis Version 5.6" is a white paper that discusses concepts and methods for design recovery and refactoring monolithic RPG applications into modern application architecture. A copy of this tutorial, including code, and a trial copy of the X-Analysis software is available from the vendor. READ MORE >

(ASNA) Making the decision to rewrite, revise, or retire applications in order to respond to business changes and get more value and greater efficiencies from IT assets is the reason this white paper was produced. It examines the options and eventually comes to the conclusion that modernizing to a .NET environment is the best route to take. READ MORE >

(Bytware) What are your security worries? Perhaps your security policy is shot full of holes or it is time consuming, difficult to manage, or error prone. This white paper distinguishes between an object-based approach and a transaction-based approach. When security is your responsibility, you should know all the potential weaknesses. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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

August 19 -- Costa Mesa, California - A presentation on programming and operations tips is the highlight of the regular monthly meeting of the OCEAN User Group. The OCEAN User Group serves the greater Orange County, California, area and meets the third Tuesday of each month. Meetings are held at the IBM offices located at 600 Anton Boulevard. This one begins at 6 p.m. LEARN MORE >

August 19 -- Atlanta, Georgia - An one-day educational event covering topics that include programming with PHP, extending applications with PHP, using Rational Developer for System i, and the newest features for RPG in V6R1 (i OS) will be presented by noted RPG experts Susan Gantner and Jon Paris. The training sessions begin at 9 a.m. at the Embassy Suites Atlanta Perimeter Center located at 1030 Crown Pointe Parkway. LEARN MORE >

August 25-28 -- Chicago, Illinois - The IBM See Blue, Think Green Technical Conference examines the growing costs of IT data centers based on energy consumption. Session topics include best practices for efficient data center design, the financial benefits of IT energy management, software tools to measure and manage energy consumption, and new technologies to manage IT operational costs. LEARN MORE >

August 27 -- Webinar - A one-hour session about using SQL queries to access remote data will be presented by ProData Computer Services. The company's RDB CONNECT is featured throughout this Webinar. The software allows full SQL access to MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Postgre and DB2. Topics of discussion include sharing data across platforms; importing and exporting remote data to and from the iSeries; using RPG, COBOL, and CL programs to directly communicate with remote databases; and using batch or interactive programs. The presentation begins at 2 p.m. CDT. LEARN MORE >

September 8-12 -- Chicago, Illinois - The IBM Power Systems Technical University will include more than 100 sessions focused on the i environment. Session topics include the new features in i 6.1, PowerVM software, server utilization and sharing I/O resources, consolidation of Intel and i applications, best practices for smooth migration to Power6 and i 6.1, steps to reduce energy costs, high availability, DB2 Web Query, PHP, MySQL, IP telephony, and Lotus Quickr. LEARN MORE >

September 15-18 -- Santa Clara, California - The Zend/PHP Conference brings together PHP developers and business managers from around the world for more than 50 technical presentations and networking events. Sessions range from beginner level to advanced topics and include in-depth tutorials, case-studies, and an exhibit hall displaying the latest products. Topics of specific interest to System i users include: modernizing i5 applications, Internet-working your i5, PHP security on i5/OS, open source applications, and customer case studies. Other session topics include: maximizing scalability and performance of Web applications, PHP testing strategies, creating rich Internet applications, building secure Web applications, and maximizing the business impact of PHP applications. Discount registration is available until July 25. LEARN MORE >