TFH Volume: 30 Issue: 59 Archives

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September 28, 2020 Timothy Prickett Morgan

For a lot of organizations that buy servers and create systems out of them, the overall throughput of each single machine is the most important performance metric they care about. But for a lot of IBM i shops and indeed even System z mainframe shops, the performance of a single core is the most important metric because most IBM i customers do not have very many cores at all. Some have only one, others have two, three, or four, and most do not have more than that although there are some very large Power Systems running IBM i. But that …
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Is Information Overload Hurting IBM i Security?

September 28, 2020 Alex Woodie

What is wrong with IBM i security? If you look at surveys and reports, you would be hard pressed to find something that is not broken. From excessive authority and ransomware, to exit programs and default passwords, it can feel as if IBM i servers are rife with security failures.

IBM i shops are certainly aware of the security shortcomings. Security has been rated the number one concern in each of the past two IBM i Marketplace studies conducted by HelpSystems. In the most recent report, 77 percent of respondents rated security a top concern, the highest percentage …
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Guru: DISTINCT Can Hide A Performance Problem

September 28, 2020 Ted Holt

When I see the word DISTINCT in an SQL query, a little red flag goes up inside my head. Not literally, of course. But it does make me pause and scrutinize the query more closely. I have found that poorly designed queries sometimes include the word DISTINCT as a final act of redemption to forcibly return the proper result set.

The purpose of DISTINCT is to remove duplicate rows from a result set. As the DB2 for i SQL reference puts it:

The keyword DISTINCT is not considered an argument of the function, but rather a specification of an operation …
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As I See It: IT And The Other Pandemic

September 28, 2020 Victor Rozek

Most mornings I wake up with a now-familiar feeling of nagging dread. It sticks like gum to my shoe and sullies the rest of my day. Accordingly, I enter the world worried, impatient, and easily irritated.

The unrelenting stress of dodging the pandemic has slowly taken its toll. Activities that not long ago were prosaic – like grocery shopping, going camping, dining out, or attending a wedding – are now cloaked in a patina of anxiety. A convenience store clerk recently asked me how I was doing? I shrugged. “Another day of avoiding people,” I said. She nodded knowingly and …
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MAGiC to Host In-Person User Conference

September 28, 2020 Alex Woodie

If you are itching to get out of the house and complete some in-person IBM i education, then the upcoming MAGiC Conference might be for you. In early November, the group is planning to host a small get-together of no more than 40 socially distanced attendees in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The Annual MAGiC Conference, slated for November 9-11 at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront hotel, will be the first in-person IBM i conference since COVID-19 shelved the usual midrange happenings, says Laura Hamway, the leader of the Mid-Atlantic Group of IBM i Collaborators, also known as MAGiC.

That’s a …
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Max Thread Room

Is Information Overload Hurting IBM i Security?

Guru: DISTINCT Can Hide A Performance Problem

As I See It: IT And The Other Pandemic

MAGiC to Host In-Person User Conference

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