iSeries Clustering Support Added to Workplace Collaboration Suite

Published: January 24, 2006

by Alex Woodie

IBM added support for iSeries clustering to Workplace Collaboration Services (WCS) version 2.6, the latest release of its flagship suite of collaboration software that started shipping last week. WCS, which was first introduced at version 2.5 last May, is an expandable suite of applications that combines several products that IBM had formerly sold under its Domino product set, such as e-mail server software, calendaring, team collaboration, document management, and Web-based content management.

Support for OS/400 clustering services will enable organizations running WCS to span a single instance of the program across two or more local or remote iSeries systems. This will bring several benefits to users, including reducing the chances of a computer crash or natural disaster from affecting e-mail and other vital applications, and providing load balancing to optimize valuable hardware investments. WCS is not a light application, however; IBM says the software requires a minimum of 4 GB of memory on all platforms (including OS/400, Windows, Linux, AIX, and Solaris), and should be installed on two-way iSeries or eServer i5 machines with at least 500 CPW to spare. It runs only on OS/400 V5R3; there's no word on whether it supports the upcoming V5R4 release.

In addition to iSeries clustering, IBM made several other enhancements with WCS 2.6, including support for other IBM products, such as Lotus Notes and Domino version 7, DB2 version 8.2, IBM HTTP Server version 6, and the IBM Directory Integrator version 6.0. This release also brings interoperability with Notes calendar through support for the iCal format, integration with the IBM Workplace Designer, support for "out-of-office" e-mail notices, new ways to block e-mails for enforcement of quotas, better Web conference management, and support for the XForms and OpenDocument standards in its document management component. There's also a new instant messaging gateway to Lotus Sametime instant messaging software. In a separate announcement yesterday, IBM and America Online announced that they have committed to allowing Sametime and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) users to communicate with each other.

IBM also announced Workplace Managed Client 2.6, the first official release of IBM's new rich client software for accessing WCS from Windows or Linux desktops. Because WCS is a portal-based application, many users will access the functionality using a standard Web browser. In fact, this was the only way to access the WCS applications with the first release last year, but now IBM is providing that Web look and feel through a full thick client application. These applications are being called "rich clients" by software vendors, but here's an important hint: It doesn't make you any richer to buy them.

While IBM designed Workplace Managed Client to function in a similar way to a Web browser, it says there are several reasons why its new rich client is better than a Web browser, including local execution of code, an encrypted data store with offline use support, and a full array of productivity tools, including a word processor, a spreadsheet, the "Presentation Manager," and project planner. Workplace Managed Client also includes a capability called "Activity Explorer," an innovative feature which enables users to easily combine collections of work items and collaborations into "activities."

New versions of Workplace Forms and Workplace Designer were also unveiled last week. Workplace Forms integrates back-end corporate data and applications--such as inventory figures, customer data, and pricing information--with specific formats that provide a unique, electronic replica of paper-based forms, IBM says. Workplace Forms 2.6 brings support for the young XForms standard and internationalization.

Meanwhile, the suite's development tool, called Workplace Designer, has been more closely integrated with the core WCS application. Workplace Designer was designed to be familiar to users of Domino Designer, and enables developers to customize their WCS environments with items such as expense reports, discussion forums, blogs, and team-based work components, IBM says. Developers work in Java, XML, and Java-Script within Workplace Designer.

The new releases of WCS, the Workplace Managed Client, and the Workplace Designer are available now. Licenses for WCS cost $90,000 per processor, while the Workplace Managed Client is $69 per user. Workplace Forms Server 2.6 will cost $25,000 when it ships in the second quarter, the Workplace Forms Viewer will cost $188, and the Workplace Forms Designer will cost $649.