• 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 …

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• IBM i Salaries Drop Vs. Other Platforms, But It’s Not All Bad

  September 6, 2017 Alex Woodie

  Time was, working on IBM i and its predecessors earned you a premium on your salary compared to other platforms. That’s not the case in 2017, as equivalent jobs on the Linux, Unix, Windows (LUW) front delivers better pay. But the news on the job front is not all doom and gloom, according IBM i staffing expert Bob Langieri, who keeps a close watch on this sort of thing.

  Across the board, IBM i professionals earned lower salaries than their LUW colleagues for various IT positions, with a few exceptions. That’s according to an analysis of IBM i salary data …

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• ARCAD Magnifies The i In Its Multi-Platform Array

  September 6, 2017 Dan Burger

  While RDi development gets some help from one IBM i vendor, another vendor is enhancing its RDi-specific software. ARCAD Software, makers of ARCAD Pack for i, has enhanced its IBM UrbanCode Deploy and improved support for deployment to IBM i.

  IBM’s UrbanCode is a tool for automating application deployments by expediting user feedback, and for providing audit trails and the approvals process. UrbanCode is being used primarily by large companies to deploy multi-platform code from a central point. It provides standardized tools and methodologies for managing all sources–including IBM i, z/OS, AIX and other Unix OSes, and all the …

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• IBM i Vulns Spotted in Node, BIND and HTTP Server

  September 6, 2017 Alex Woodie

  IBM last month moved to patch several critical security vulnerabilities related to the BIND service in IBM i that could allow attackers unauthorized access to IBM i servers running any release of the OS from IBM 6.1 to 7.3. Security glitches were also patched for the IBM i implementation of Node.js, the HTTP Server bundled with IBM i, the hardware management console (HMC), and WebSphere.

  Both ISC BIND vulnerabilities work in a similar way and enabled similar paths into affected systems – namely by allowing an attacker to craft a specially crafted request packet to bypass authentication and therefore gain …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, September 6

  September 6, 2017 Dan Burger

  Two app dev strategies are fighting for supremacy. DevOps is a cultural and organizational shift that empowers enterprise software teams to deliver better software quicker – in particular, hand-coded software. Low-Code platforms, in contrast, provide a technology platform and visual tooling that deliver better software quicker – with little or no hand-coding required.

  The continued success of RPG depends on several factors. Maintaining the status quo is not one of them. See what it takes to build an RPG future in this week’s Monitor. Also discover the latest move by Vision Solutions’ new owner, and why BI and analytics …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 35

  September 6, 2017 Doug Bidwell

  Welcome to the IBM i PTF Guide, which was designed to help you figure out what patches to apply to your releases so you can keep current and therefore keep optimal in terms of performance, stability, and security. This should be  your own personal IBM i Patch Wednesday, and frankly, with the Labor Day holiday in the United States, there was not a lot going on this week.

  The Recommended PTFs for all functional areas were updated, and summary lists for all three current IBM i releases were updated in *SF97VRM). ERP giant and in-memory processing upstart SAP also …

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• Where’s the ‘Coleman’ for IBM i?

  August 30, 2017 Alex Woodie

  In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the midst of an artificial intelligence (AI) revolution that’s bringing automation to places where it never existed, including ERP software. The latest entry into the field is Infor, which turned heads last month with a new AI bot dubbed Coleman. Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on your views on AI – Coleman won’t be coming to IBM i.

  Infor, which owns the biggest collection of IBM i application software on the planet, has slyly positioned itself as a scrappy alternative to Oracle and SAP in the enterprise software space. While the giants …

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• CIO Summit Planned For IBM i Executives

  August 30, 2017 Dan Burger

  Many CIOs and IT directors, regardless of industry or geography, have the same problem. They go it alone, figuring their business problem, their company, and everything about their situation is unique. Or maybe it doesn’t dawn on them that another CIO has faced a similar problem and learned a few lessons — good and bad ones — along the way.

  It’s not that lone wolf CIOs deliberately set out to reinvent the wheel. But setting priorities and goals and making decisions without getting outside your silo is a pretty good way to not only know the wheel’s been invented, but …

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• Sundry Withdrawals For Power7 And Power7+ Gear

  August 30, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  The sunrise of the Power9 systems is moving in slow motion and we no longer expect to see shiny new iron using this state of the art processor running either IBM i or AIX until sometime early in 2018. It is looking like maybe March or April at the moment. But the sunsetting of vintage Power Systems iron that will be displaced by the arrival of the Power9 machines is proceeding.

  Trying to figure out what is being ripped out of the IBM catalog, and when it will be removed from the sales channel, is more difficult than trying to …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, August 30

  August 30, 2017 Dan Burger

  Implementing new IT solutions should help a company or department run more smoothly, effectively, and efficiently, yet trepidation about the process is a frequent occurrence. Whether it’s refactoring a database, modernizing applications, upgrading the system or ERP software – those tasks can be intimidating. Two IT pros provide insights into creating good strategic planning, clear and honest communication, and conscious time-management with the goal of alleviating stress by setting expectations, establishing security and building confidence.

  This week’s Monitor also includes tips on getting more value from your RPG, evaluation of IBM i security fiction, and a new training opportunity for …

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