From the looks of things, we can expect to see new Power Systems machines based on the Power8+ processors from IBM in the next several months. With new iron on the way and the server, storage, and networking markets all undergoing tumultuous change, now is a good time to examine the place of the IBM i platform in the modern datacenter and how it might be better integrated with the other systems that coexist with it.

Having to say such a sentence was never part of the original System/38 and AS/400 plan, of course. And perhaps the midrange IT world

On the road from the AS/400 to IBM i, there have been many changes. One of the biggest has been the evolution from being a fortress that locked out all “outsiders” to allowing the system to interact with other systems. I don’t doubt there are some one-dimensional IBM i shops, but sharing data, once punishable by death, now occurs without beads of sweat and loss of sleep . . . most of the time.

The IBM i platform has a strong record of being directly accessible to other platforms, especially within the Windows realm, Mike Sansoterra points out. Sansoterra is

Man’s work and women’s work, can you describe the difference? Think about all the reasons there are tasks that fit into one or the other category. Then think about the IBM midrange community and why the ratio of men to women must be 10 to one, or even greater. Unbalanced? Obviously. Discrimination? I’m not here to throw that bomb. Successful women in this business? Yes, there are many.

I’m going to mention just a few highly successful women from the IBM i community right off the top of my head: Alison Butterill, IBM i Product Offering Manager; Susan Gantner, highly

IBM i shops are encouraged to be vigilant following a pair of security vulnerabilities that have emerged in the encryption protocols used by the platform. This includes the SLOTH vulnerability in the IBM i JVM that IBM patched February 15. But a bigger threat looms in the form of DROWN, a potentially significant vulnerability in the SSL/TLS stack that IBM patched on March 1.

IBM issued a series of patches to address the SLOTH vulnerability in the IBM i JVMs. According to IBM’s Security Bulletin for SLOTH, a problem with the IBM i JVM’s implementation of the TLS 1.2

If you are one of the relatively few customers who bought Flex Systems modular servers from IBM based on its Power7 and Power7+ processors, you had better get the lead out if you need to add some iron to your systems.

In announcement letter 916-028, IBM said that it was going to be withdrawing the Flex System p260+ server nodes, which are based on Power7+ processors, from its catalog starting on November 18. A slew of networking features, including switches and adapters, are having the plug pulled on them on March 8, and so are memory and storage features