• Cloud Provides A Third HA Option

  September 20, 2017 Alex Woodie

  In the third part of our series on IBM i high availability options, we’re looking up — to the cloud, that is.

  If you’re in the market to implement an IBM i high availability solution – and the best data we’ve seen indicates that many IBM i shops are shopping in 2017 – then you basically have three options to choose from: logical replication software solutions, IBM’s Power HA hardware solution, and a cloud-based HA solution.

  We covered the first two offerings in previous stories (you can find our story on logical replication here and our story on PowerHA here …

  Read more

• Following Equifax, Focus On Database Encryption

  September 20, 2017 Alex Woodie

  In the wake of the massive data breach at Equifax that has impacted millions of Americans, suspicions are arising that the company did not even encrypt its data. As hard as it is to believe that one of the big three credit agencies neglected to use encryption, a survey suggests that storing data in plaintext is a common business practice at the vast majority of IBM i shops.

  Despite all the news coverage of this major data breach, critical facts and details are scarce. It’s hard to know exactly what steps Equifax’s IT department took to protect its data, for …

  Read more

• Dynamic Solutions Lowers Cost For Entry-level VTL

  September 20, 2017 Dan Burger

  If you’ve been waiting for virtual tape libraries to become more affordable, your waiting days may be over. Virtual tape libraries — automated backup systems designed to replace manual tape backups — have found a niche mostly in highly regulated industries and businesses with backup complexities that make simple tape backups time consuming and risky. Dynamic Solutions International, a data storage software company with experience in IBM i data management, believes it has reduced the entry costs to a level where small to midsize shops can affordably apply backup automation with its DSI425 Series, a package designed to …

  Read more

• Four Hundred Monitor, September 20

  September 20, 2017 Dan Burger

  Last time I checked, the SAP on IBM i community was not greatly enamored with the idea of adopting HANA, the SAP in-memory database. You would get a different idea after reading the pro-HANA article in IBM’s in-house magazine. Although SAP markets HANA for business intelligence workloads, it has also repeatedly stated that its goal is to eventually replace all underlying relational databases. Some SAP on i shops are not ready for that.

  Also in Monitor this week: IBM’s CEO Ginni Rometty condemns the fear-mongering that stalks artificial intelligence; predicting the future of IT based on current spending trends; and …

  Read more

• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 37

  September 20, 2017 Doug Bidwell

  Just a reminder from your friendly neighborhood IBM i PTF Guide. Java 6 will be going out of support on December 31, 2017. So be sure to update your Java applications to Java 8 or Java 7 to ensure a safe and secure application environment.

  The licensed programs for both Java 7 and Java 8 are available on Entitled Systems Support (ESS), in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. They don’t take up much room, it is suggested you put them all on your system. Changing the default version of the JDK (Java Development Kit) is done by changing the …

  Read more

• Crazy Idea # 542: Port IBM i To The Mainframe

  September 18, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  In case you didn’t know it, and why would you care, IBM launched the new System z14 mainframe back in June, was talking about the new z14 motors it uses in August, and has just last week launched the LinuxOne “Emperor II” Linux-only mainframe variant of that platform. The machine, as always, has some impressive engineering. And it got me to thinking. Which is always dangerous.

  Here is a crazy idea. No, this is really crazy, unlike some of my other inspirations, which of course make perfect sense. Maybe IBM should converge the Power Systems and System z lines, and …

  Read more

• More Database Tools Highlight Latest IBM i Access Client

  September 18, 2017 Dan Burger

  Remember IBM i Access for Windows? Many IBM i advocates do because they never stopped using it, despite its replacement by IBM i Access Client Solutions more than four years ago. Access for Windows hasn’t seen an enhancement since ACS arrived and ACS is on a continual enhancement schedule. The most recent round of upgrades arrived in mid-July without much fanfare, which is the way IBM seems to prefer.

  SQL developers and database engineers (those that have the title and those that only have the responsibility) are among the professionals benefiting the most from the expanding ACS toolset that usually …

  Read more

• Guru: Consuming A REST Web Service Using SQL And GET

  September 18, 2017 Mike Larsen

  The use of web services in the industry continues to grow, and sometimes it can be challenging to find information on how to work with them on IBM i. So, what is a web service? In a nutshell, web services allow systems to communicate via the web using file formats such as JSON and XML.

  This article demonstrates how to consume a REST web service using SQL. The example I’m working with uses the ‘GET’ verb to retrieve information from an Amazon Web Service (AWS). I created a simple REST Amazon Web Service that retrieves information about a pet from …

  Read more

• Three Lessons IBM i Shops Can Learn From The Equifax Hack

  September 18, 2017 Alex Woodie

  The recent Equifax data breach exposed extremely sensitive data of 143 million consumers, putting more than half of Americans at risk. While an IBM i server was likely not involved here, Equifax’s actions – and more importantly, its inactions – can teach IBM i shops something about data security.

  Just when you thought the string of major data breaches couldn’t get any worse, Equifax happened. The number of people impacted by the hack is relatively small, as these things go. When you consider that Yahoo’s 2014 breach exposed the data of 1.5 billion people, and that Adult Friend Finder’s 2016 …

  Read more

• The State Of Systems In The Second Quarter

  September 18, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  The server refresh cycle that we have all been expecting in 2017 is well under way, and in fact, it looks like it is better than expected by some measures.

  The box counters at IDC said in releasing their server shipment and revenue numbers for the second quarter of 2017 that they had been undercounting the number of machines made by original design manufacturers (ODMs) and sold directly to the big hyperscalers and cloud builders to the tune of an average of $1 billion per quarter since 2013. Looking back a year, to the second quarter of 2016, the amount …

  Read more

• IBM i’s TCO Advantage Widens, According to Reports

  September 13, 2017 Alex Woodie

  IBM recently published a new report that claims the total cost of ownership (TCO) of an IBM i server over three years is dramatically lower than the equivalent Windows or Linux setups. It’s not the first such study IBM has done over the years, but what’s interesting is the gap appears to have widened considerably compared to a similar study six years ago.

  In the latest TCO study, research and management consulting firm Quark + Lepton measured how much it would take hypothetical businesses to buy and manage three sets of servers: a Power Systems server running IBM i 7.3 …

  Read more

• How SAP Complexity Impacts Performance on IBM i

  September 13, 2017 Alex Woodie

  The IBM i server and SAP’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is a powerful combination that propels thousands of businesses around the world. The duo’s success is apparent to those who pay attention, even if it’s not widely acknowledged. But ensuring smooth SAP operations on IBM i is not always as straightforward as it could be, especially for those uninitiated with the complexity of this setup.

  The fact that SAP has its own way of doing things is nothing new. Ever since a group of five former IBMers from Germany led by Hasso Plattner formed up to create the …

  Read more

• Symtrax Compleo Diversifies Document Management Evolution

  September 13, 2017 Dan Burger

  Ask anyone who’s been researching document management software: This is no longer a conversation about forms printing or how to access spool files and convert them to Excel spreadsheets. It’s much more than that. It’s about integration with multiple systems, multiple delivery channels, and multiple workflow processes. It’s not just about spool files anymore.

  Symtrax, a company that’s cultivated an IBM midrange business for more than 25 years, has evolved much like the AS/400 has evolved into the IBM i. “Our evolution is still on the IBM i platform,” says Kirk Fackre, director of enterprise solutions at Symtrax, “but it …

  Read more

• Four Hundred Monitor, September 13

  September 13, 2017 Dan Burger

  Earlier this year, at the COMMON Annual Meeting and Expo, we started to hear what Watson could do when integrated with IBM i. People are still asking questions and more information is being made available. Cognitive computing, with its analytic capabilities, is bringing change to traditional enterprise application development. You don’t have to be smarter than Watson. You just need to be smart enough to know about Watson.

  Also in Monitor this week: IBM and MIT partner on cognitive computing research; the right and wrong of agile development; and an IBM internship program for re-entering women in their tech careers. …

  Read more

• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 36

  September 13, 2017 Doug Bidwell

  Hello IBM i shops, it is always important to keep your system up to date, which is why we provide the IBM i PTF Guide. But just to keep perspective here, for those companies and personnel dealing with Hurricanes Harvey and Irma or the impending Hurricane Jose, and for those who are dealing with the Western part of this country being on fire, the fixes below can probably wait a day or so. Be safe!

  This week in the guide we have HIPERs, DB2, and Defective fixes for all three releases:

  IBM i 7.3 HIPER group and PSP - 

  … Read more

• The Chatter About Future Power9 Servers

  September 11, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  In late July, the first of the Power9 systems, the one code-named “Witherspoon” that was designed explicitly to be installed in the “Summit” and “Sierra” clustered supercomputers installed at Oak Ridge National Laboratories and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, respectively, started rolling off the production line at Big Blue and into those HPC centers that are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. It is the beginning, however quiet, of what we expect will be a rolling thunder rollout of Power9 systems in late 2017 and through early 2018.

  Because there have been so many processor announcements in the past …

  Read more

• Lack Of Available RPG Skills Not A Hard Problem To Fix

  September 11, 2017 Dan Burger

  Running an IT department can be a grind. The reliability and manageability of your hardware and software certainly influences how hard the grind becomes, but the job becomes so much easier when you have a staff that removes much of your burden. Successfully developing that staff and creating a positive culture while dealing with turnover and “do more with less” imperatives has a huge impact on whether the CIO or IT director manages the grind or gets ground up. And once in a while, a new addition to the staff comes with a surprisingly positive impact. That leads me into …

  Read more

• Guru: Remove Unwanted Trailing Blanks With LPEX

  September 11, 2017 Ted Holt

  Giving up RDi and going back to developing with PDM and SEU would appeal to me as much as giving up electricity and running water and moving into a pup tent. RDi has so many nice features that enrich my life. However, RDi does have its quirks, and occasionally I run into one of them.

  One of the nice features is the ability to comment and uncomment blocks of code in one fell swoop. In case you’ve forgotten (or didn’t know about) those shortcuts, Ctrl+/ comments out a line or block and Ctrl+\ removes the comment markers. I recommend you …

  Read more

• As I See It: The Power Of Pizza

  September 11, 2017 Victor Rozek

  When you become the richest man in the world, if only for a few hours by virtue of stock market fluctuations, you nonetheless acquire an additional layer of gravitas. Suddenly, everything you say or do has added significance. Small actions are credited with great meaning. The trivial becomes transcendent.

  Which is probably why, the day after the New York Times announced that Jeff Bezos had toppled Bill Gates from his golden throne as the world’s richest man, the usually sober Business Insider gushed about his managerial prowess. The article appeared under the preposterous headline: “The ‘two pizza rule’ is a …

  Read more

• IBM Flashes the Cache On External Storage

  September 11, 2017 Alex Woodie

  IBM put more a little flash in its storage, specifically its high-end DS8000 arrays, which got new solid state drive options that will boost raw flash storage close to 3 petabytes in a single installation. Big Blue also cached in with its Storwize V7000, which now features up to 256 GB of RAM, among other new features.

  Let’s begin the news with the Storwize V7000, which is an X86-based storage system that’s becoming increasingly popular among midsize and large IBM i shops that are looking to consolidate storage but who can’t justify the added expense and complexity of the high-end …

  Read more

Previous Articles