The Four Hundred

Rather than making one big splash with WebSphere-related announcements for OS/400 V5R2, IBM is rolling out different iSeries-related WebSphere announcements, products, and marketing packages a little bit at a time. Some of the new features have been available; some will be available when V5R2 is released; and a few other iSeries WebSphere items should show up by year-end. Here's a timeline for what's happening with WebSphere and the iSeries.

With the April 29, 2002, announcement, IBM began offering subcapacity WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Commerce pricing for running those products in a logical partition. WebSphere is licensed per CPU and--prior to the April 29 announcement--customers running WebSphere in a logical partition had to buy enough licenses for the total number of CPUs on their machine, regardless of how many CPUs were actually used in their WebSphere-activated partition. As of April 29, IBM changed the game for the better. WebSphere logical partition customers now only pay for licenses for the actual number of CPUs used in any logical partition where the software is running. This pricing change affects the following WebSphere products:

Be aware that there are some special situations associated with this new pricing that you'll need to look at as you order this support, including additional installation software, future software auditing to insure compliance, reallocation of WebSphere licenses from other machines, and considerations for partial CPU assignment to a partition and dynamic allocation of CPUs between partitions. To read about some of these other considerations, see our subcapacity pricing story from the May 28 issue.

WDSc is a follow-on product to WebSphere Development Tools (WDT) V5R1 and WebSphere Development Studio (WDS) for iSeries V5R1. WDSc adds more workstation development tools to the WebSphere Studio environment, and these new tools are compatible with the Eclipse-based integrated development environment (IDE) of WebSphere Studio Workbench. The new refresh includes the following features:

WebSphere Studio Workbench: Based on the open-source Eclipse project, WebSphere Studio Workbench integrates iSeries developer tools into an extensible standard IDE. WebSphere Studio Workbench is a plug-in to the Eclipse framework that allows a developer to learn one tool while having access to several other tools through the common portal like IDE. In prerelease materials, IBM referred to WDSc as the first phase of a tool implosion, where new tools are integrated into the IDE and existing tools (including, VisualAge for RPG, WebFacing, and CODE) are also targeted for complete IDE integration. In addition to merging IBM tools with the IDE, non-IBM Eclipse-compatible tools can also be integrated with the Workbench. And, as reported in the June 3, 2002, issue of The Four Hundred, three key iSeries change management vendors--SoftLanding Systems, Aldon Computer Group, and MKS--already offer integration into the Workbench IDE. IBM is saying that--with new plug-ins--Eclipse will become the basis of many new products from IBM, business partners, independent software vendors (ISVs), and consultants. IBM also says that there are more than 150 software tool suppliers in 63 different countries participating in the eclipse.org community. So look for more third-party vendors to offer integrated products.

WebSphere Studio Site Developer Advanced (WSSDa) V4.0.3a: Also being provided with WDSc, WSSDa is a development environment for Web and Java programming. The package merges IBM's VisualAge for Java Professional software, WebSphere Studio Client, a new WebSphere Application Server V4.0 test environment, and new tools that support Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) standards, Java, JavaServer Pages (JSPs), HTML, DHTML, XML, Web services, and database design. WSSDa also includes a JavaBean Web pages wizard and a database Web pages wizard.

Remote system explorer: The system explorer is a generic framework for supporting views, tools, and tool extensions from a remote system, allowing you to develop new iSeries host-based applications. It allows customers to create and manage iSeries connection information that can be used in all iSeries tools.

Java Development Tools (JDT)--These tools include a Java editor, refactoring support, incremental compiles, Java development optimization, specialized views, and a choice of the Java level you want to implement (with Java Runtime Environment [JRE] V1.3 as the default). There is also a new program call wizard, as well as several iSeries extensions for Java including the Toolbox for Java built in as an Eclipse Java project.

A new version of the IBM WebFacing Tool: WebFacing receives a facelift of its own as WDSc adds several new features including more DDS keyword support, WebSphere Application Server V4.0 support, improved authentication, integration with the WebSphere Workbench, and full support for the WebSphere Application Server V4.0 test environment.

Partial CODE (CoOperative Development Environment) integration into the Workbench environment: CODE is a client development environment for writing RPG, COBOL, C, C++, CLP, and Java host applications for iSeries systems. Complete CODE capabilities will migrate into the new IDE over time.

Development tools: Many of the same development tools available in WebSphere Development Tools V5R1 are also included, such as VisualAge for RPG, which will also be completely integrated into the IDE over time.

Web tools and wizards: A series of iSeries Web tools and wizards for developers are also included.

WDSc will connect to iSeries V5R1 and higher machines. If you're planning to use the WebFacing tool or remote system explorer, IBM will specify additional PTFs to be installed. The software runs on Microsoft Windows 98, Millennium Edition (Me), XP, NT 4.0 (Service Pack 6a or higher), and Windows 2000 Professional, Server, or Advanced Server.

As far as WDSc's relationship with the current WebSphere Development Studio for iSeries product goes, customers are automatically entitled to receive WDSc by ordering a WebSphere Development Studio refresh with feature code 2655, which was available mid-July. In addition, new WebSphere Development Studio V5R1 orders will automatically ship with the WDSc product as of July 12, 2002, and IBM expects that WebSphere Development Studio V5R2 orders will automatically ship with WDSc as of August 30, 2002.

IBM withdrew WDT under its International Program Licensing Agreement (IPLA) on July 11. This means customers no longer can get these part numbers directly from IBM or its authorized distributors. Orders placed after July 11th will not be filled, and IBM has specified WebSphere Development Studio Client for iSeries V4.0 as the designated replacement for WDT. If you're a subscription customer for WDT, IBM says you can continue to use that program or upgrade to WDSc through the subscription program.

Availability: Limited availability with the new i890 boxes on June 14, 2002. Generally available with OS/400 V5R2 in August 2002

With OS/400 V5R2, IBM is adding a new feature called Adaptive e-Transaction Services. These new services are built on IBM's existing iSeries support for delivering high-performance database and transaction-based services for traditional OS/400 applications. IBM is extending these services to its OS/400 e-business environment. The idea is to port OS/400's robust database and transaction processing capabilities to e-business applications running under Java and WebSphere. IBM is saying that the V5R2 Adaptive e-transaction services will automatically analyze and adapt to an application's design, providing optimal transaction performance whether you're running an RPG program or a Java application. What's more, IBM is saying that its V5R2 transaction server will provide transaction services to any application without Big Blue's customers having to build that support into their programming. It should be interesting to see whether this new support enables significant performance improvements for e-business applications.

Earlier this spring, IBM announced WebSphere V5.0, which includes support for J2EE 1.3, more support for Web services, authorization and security upgrades, and improved XML-based administration capabilities. IBM is promising WebSphere V5.0 for third quarter availability, but chances are good you won't see it on the iSeries until the fourth quarter. Expect WebSphere Application Server V5.0 to only be supported on OS/400 V5R2 and V5R1, and not on any V4RX versions. The good news, however, is that IBM has previously said that it will provide a free V5.0 upgrade to any customer who purchases WebSphere V4.0 before V5.0 hits the shelves. So be sure to ask your business partner or IBM sales representative about the free upgrade if you've recently bought or are about to buy WebSphere V4.0.

WebSphere Express is the low-cost entry into the WebSphere product line. This software won't be free like the WebSphere Application Server Standard Edition V3.5 software, but it will probably cost significantly less than the $8,000 per CPU IBM charges for the current low-end WebSphere V4.0 product. And WebSphere Express--which has a fun acronym of WE--will have approximately the same functionality as WebSphere Standard Edition V3.5 and the Jakarta Tomcat application server for iSeries (OS/400 Tomcat), meaning that it can deliver JavaServer Pages and Java servlets but not Enterprise JavaBeans. WebSphere Express also will lack many of the scalability and high-end transaction and security processing features found in WebSphere Advanced Edition. As a side-effect, the arrival of WebSphere Express will probably signal reduced IBM enthusiasm for its OS/400 Tomcat server, for which IBM is currently providing both software and technical support. With IBM company emphasis on WebSphere profitability, don't be surprised if IBM starts reducing support and options for OS/400 Tomcat in favor of WebSphere Express. (For more analysis on this issue, see the WebSphere V5.0 preview article in the May 20, 2002 issue of The Four Hundred).

WebSphere Portal provides a single point of entry for accessing several different types of information, applications, and people through the WebSphere Application Server. WebSphere Portal features personalization technologies and syndicated content and collaboration technologies. This product has been available on other platforms and now IBM is porting it to the iSeries.

As part of the V5R2 announcement, IBM announced that it plans to make its DB2 UDB and the WebSphere Application Server available for Linux on iSeries. WebSphere on iSeries Linux was announced as a statement of direction rather than as an OS/400 V5R2 feature, which means that IBM's plan is still subject to change and it's not a guaranteed offering yet. However, it's interesting that IBM is planning to offer WebSphere on two separate environments that run on an iSeries. This could be a sticky situation for IBM, especially if Big Blue winds up marketing against OS/400 WebSphere as the Linux alternative becomes available. Something may have to give here, and it isn't entirely clear yet where WebSphere for Linux will fit into IBM's iSeries plans.

These are the major iSeries WebSphere highlights that will be coming due with V5R2 and beyond this year. As more news happens with iSeries WebSphere, we'll be reporting it in The Four Hundred.

Joe Hertvik is a contributing editor to Guild Companies publications. He can be reached at jhertvik@itjungle.com.