IBM Tweaks Rational Developer Prices, Adds New Power Systems UPS

August 8, 2011 Timothy Prickett Morgan

IBM has not done a lot of product announcements during the summer weeks relating to the Power Systems product family, but it usually sneaks out a thing or two when we are all trying to take vacation.

In announcement letter 311-103, IBM cut the price tag a bit on Rational Developer for i for SOA Construction V8.0. Specifically, it cut the price on feature 0003 of product number 5733-SOC by 16.5 percent, to $1,110. This is the per-user fee for this application development tool when bought with a Power Systems server and including one year of Software Maintenance bundled in. As far as I know, the price for feature 0001, which is acquired separate from any iron, has not changed.

Rational Developer for i for SOA Construction V8.0 is an application modernization tool and includes Rational Business Developer V8.0.1, which is used to code and debug programs written in IBM’s Enterprise Generation Language (EGL), and Rational Developer for Power Systems Software: RPG and COBOL Development Tools for i V8.0. Yes, that last product in the bundle is a mouthful, and it allows IBM i shops to create RPG, COBOL, CL, and DDS applications on the platform. V8.0 of the Rational i toolset was launched in April of this year.

In separate news, in announcement letter 111-139, Big Blue has rolled out a new uninterruptable power supply (UPS) for Power Systems servers.

The 9910 Model E66 is rated at 5,000 volt-amps (VA) and runs at 208 volts. The 4U rack-mounted unit is rated to protect servers and other gear up to 4,500 watts and operates at up to 97 percent efficiency under load. It has one extended battery module to allow it some stored juice to allow for a controlled shutdown of servers, and it comes with a relay serial card that plugs into Power Systems boxes and allows it to talk to OS/400, i/OS, and IBM i platforms. It looks to me like this a rebadged Eaton Powerware UPS. The device is certified on any Power-based server running Power5 or later processors. You’ll recognize these by their iSeries and pSeries, System i and System p, and Power Systems brands. It can also supply conditioned juice to IBM disk arrays. Pricing was not announced.