• Reuse Deleted Records? *YES!

  September 12, 2007 Hey, Ted

  How does the iSeries find a space to insert a new record over a deleted record when REUSEDLT(*YES) is specified for a file? An associate says that the file is scanned sequentially for a deleted record when writing a new record to the file and as a result there is a significant performance penalty. –Millard I sent your question to Kent Milligan of IBM. According to him, “A table scan is not performed. A bitmap-like structure is used to identify available deleted rows within the table.” So, Millard, there are no performance-related reasons not to reuse deleted records. This topic

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• Accessing File Member Timestamps from a .NET C# Program

  September 12, 2007 Hey, Mike

  I’m trying to use C# .Net to inspect the file create date and file modified date on member files in a custom library under QSys.Lib. Do you have any idea how to do this or can you suggest a place to start? Unfortunately, I code in C# and do not know RPG or CL commands. –GS We can tackle this problem without any server side logic. Fortunately, this job is pretty easy, thanks to IBM providing us with integration into the Windows world. The first thing you need to learn about is a special program called NetServer, which can be

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• Admin Alert: A Primer for Changing Your i5/OS Startup Program

  September 12, 2007 Joe Hertvik

  At some point, all System i and iSeries administrators will need to add new functionality to their system startup program (QSTRUP). While it’s easy to change and recompile QSTRUP, there are a few pitfalls to avoid so that the new code executes properly and so that it doesn’t hang the system in error. To help you understand QSTRUP modification, here’s my primer on locating, changing, and compiling your startup program. Changing the QSTRUP startup program consists of the following six simple steps. Finding your startup program object Finding the startup program’s source code Archiving your old startup program object and

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• Sentillion Aims for Low Cost, Ease-of-Use with SSO Product

  September 11, 2007 Alex Woodie

  Sentillion this week introduced a new single sign-on (SSO) product designed to be easier to install and more affordable than traditional SSO products. When it ships in November, the new offering, called expreSSO, will provide a centralized sign-on and authentication process that organizations can install in just five days for as little as $35 per user, according to Sentillion. Since it was founded in 1998, Boston-based Sentillion has developed a strong reputation in the healthcare field. About 450 hospitals around the country have adopted the company’s flagship product, a sophisticated suite of identity and “context” management software called Vergence. Over

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• Vaulting Over Backups: The Pros, Cons

  September 11, 2007 Robert Gast

  The notion of vaulting is really rather enticing. For a nominal monthly subscription fee, you can transmit critical business data securely over the Web to a backup site that is carefully maintained on your behalf. But what about the security and speed of the Web? Is it robust enough for enterprise-level backup? Furthermore, do vaulting solutions offer support for the increasing number of IT departments that use other platforms in addition to System i boxes? Compared to traditional backup methods that involve tape, vaulting solutions support recovery point objectives that are relatively short. Vaulting solutions fall into a class of

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• Bsafe Puts a Smack Down on Rouge IP Traffic

  September 11, 2007 Alex Woodie

  Earlier this month, Bsafe Information Systems introduced a new security product that provides IP packet filtering for System i servers. Called IP Packet Lockdown, the new product gives users more control over exactly which IP addresses, and through which ports, are allowed access to the system. The new product will provide another layer of security, especially when coupled with i5/OS’s exit-point security. IP packet filtering is a security technique that is often used inside firewalls to block unwanted Internet traffic. It’s a platform-neutral technology that doesn’t have anything to do specifically with the System i server, but it can be

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• Raz-Lee Eases Compliance with Update to iSecurity

  September 11, 2007 Alex Woodie

  System i shops struggling to comply with the onrush of new laws and rules affecting security will find it easier to track the computer-related components of those rules thanks to a new release from Raz-Lee Security. In late August, Raz-Lee announced the launch of iSecurity Audit version 8.2, which adds more than 200 new pre-defined compliance reports, and brings several other new features designed to help customers with their compliance initiatives. The number of new laws and industry guidelines that companies must deal with today is unprecedented in this country. Whether it’s Sarbanes Oxley, HIPAA, PCI, Basel II, the

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• EPI Now Distributing CenturioDB Tool

  September 11, 2007 Alex Woodie

  Excel Program Inventions, an IBM business partner based in Southern California, is taking over North American sales of CenturioDB, a tool that provides i5/OS applications with very quick access to data residing off the platform. EPI also announced a new release of CenturioDB, which was developed and released in 2006 by a German company of the same name A year ago, the German programmer Markus Litters launched the first release of CenturioDB. The software was designed to allow System i users and applications to access external databases interactively, directly from the 5250 green screen, via SQL commands, without

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• Logistics Company Adopts MIMIX from Vision Solutions

  September 11, 2007 Alex Woodie

  T.JOIN Transportation Company, Taiwan’s largest freight forwarder and logistics company, has adopted MIMIX ha1, the former Lakeview Technologies high availability product now sold by Vision Solutions, the software company announced recently. T.JOIN used to have difficulty satisfying customer demand for information about its stuff. This was largely due to the company’s reliance on a decentralized collection of 60 computers. At any given time during the day or night, one or more of the computers would be offline for routine maintenance or backups, taking the information they contained offline, as well. The decentralized computing structure made other tasks difficult too,

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• IBM Completes DataMirror Acquisition

  September 11, 2007 Alex Woodie

  IBM completed its $161 million acquisition of i5/OS high availability software provider DataMirror last week. The IT giant also announced that DataMirror will be integrated into its Information Management software business, which includes the DB2 database and related products. IBM announced its intention to buy DataMirror in mid July, just after DataMirror’s competitor, Vision Solutions, shocked the industry by acquiring Lakeview Technologies, also a big player in the high availability market. While DataMirror’s reputation as a major player in the i5/OS high availability market had waned over the years as a company named iTera (since acquired by Vision

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