Power5 Means Powerful iSeries Iron Is Possible
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

If you're worried about the amount of headroom IBM can deliver in its top-end iSeries servers, or that IBM's Power line of chips cannot keep pace with commodity Intel processors or competing RISC chips from Sun Microsystems, Fujitsu, or Hewlett-Packard, fear not. IBM's got big plans, suitable for large and small servers alike, for its future Power5 processors. These chips will eventually play into the iSeries product line, and will bring a lot of power to bear on OS/400, Linux, and AIX workloads. READ MORE >

Zollar Named New GM of iSeries, Duncan Goes to Software Group
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

As we anticipated, new chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano is starting to move around the captains of various IBM business units. Last Wednesday, Al Zollar, who has been general manager of the Lotus unit within Software Group, was tapped as general manager of the MidMarket Server Division within IBM's Server Group--the unit responsible for the iSeries line. Buell Duncan, the former general manager of the iSeries unit, who took that job in October 2000, is now general manager of developer relations at Software Group. READ MORE >

IBM Outsources xSeries Server Manufacturing
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

In a surprising but understandable move, IBM has outsourced the manufacturing of nearly its entire line of Intel-based servers to a contract manufacturer that it has long ties to, Sanmina-SCI, of San Jose, California. IBM wants to make more money on xSeries servers, and the company believes that outsourcing to Sanmina-SCI is better than trying to invent more cost-effective manufacturing processes on its own. Sanmina-SCI got a similar contract last year to make IBM's desktop PCs. READ MORE >

Admin Alert: Two OS/400 Performance-Adjustment Settings to Check
by Joe Hertvik

There are two system values you should watch for to implement automatic OS/400 performance adjustments. Performance Adjustment (QPFRADJ) controls when a system performs automatic storage pool and activity level tuning, and Dynamic priority adjustment (QDYNPTYADJ) controls whether the system dynamically adjusts the priority of interactive jobs in order to maintain high throughput for non-interactive jobs in a server environment. These values serve different functions, and it pays to understand what each one does, in order to effectively tune your system. READ MORE >

COMMON Goes Industrial with Special Track at Indy
by Alex Woodie

Manufacturing and distribution will be in the fast lane at the COMMON conference in Indianapolis. The OS/400 users group announced last month that it will be offering a special track of classes targeting manufacturing and distribution concepts at the upcoming conference. Specific session-related details are still being nailed down, but a COMMON spokesman said that attendees will have six or seven industry-specific sessions to choose from during the five-day conference. READ MORE >

But Wait, There's More. . .

Get The Latest OS/400 PTF Guide . . . BCD Offers 20 to 50 Percent Off Software Through January 24 . . . iTera Hires New V.P. of "Alternate Channels" . . . Jack Henry Acquires Chicago Outsourcing Provider for Banks . . . Create!Form Appoints New V.P. of Strategic Alliances . . . Manhattan Associates Completes Acquisition of Logistics.com . . . NetManage Forms Partnership with Tata Consultancy Services . . . READ MORE >

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We value your feedback and your insights into the OS/400 market. Feel free to send a letter to the editor. We will consider your letter a candidate for the reader feedback column associated with this newsletter, but we will contact you before we make your email public. READ MORE >