• Digging Into the Latest IBM i TRs

  October 23, 2019 Alex Woodie

  The fall batch of Technology Refreshes (TRs) have been revealed, and as expected, there’s a bit of new functionality available for customers who use IBM i 7.3 and 7.4. In this story, we’ll tackle enhancements in open source, systems management and monitoring, and development, which means we’ll dive deeper into other areas, like database and HA/DR, in a future story.

  Let’s start with the fun stuff: open source. With IBM i 7.3 TR7 and 7.4 TR1, IBM has brought support for two prominent open source projects, including ZeroMQ and Redis.

  ZeroMQ is a universal messaging library that allows users to …

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• Java License Fallout Continues Impacting IBM i Shops

  October 23, 2019 Alex Woodie

  Oracle’s decision to restrict the previously free distribution of Java version 8 tools and runtimes is impacting the entire IT industry. In our little neck of the woods, the decision to charge businesses for using Oracle’s Java has forced IBM i shops to take a hard look at the technology platform, and in some cases look for alternative solutions.

  Oracle ruffled feathers in the Java community in 2017, when it made substantial changes to its Java roadmap. The company announced that Java Standard Edition (SE) version 8, which is a legacy version of Java but is still in widespread use, …

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• Data Protection in the New Regulated Era

  October 23, 2019 Alex Woodie

  Companies must protect their data from all sorts of threats these days, including power outages, failed servers, and drive crashes. But one of the most important aspects of data protection today is ensuring the security and privacy of data, which is mandated by a slew of emerging data regulations.

  In May 2018, the European Union enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a far-reaching new law that gave people sweeping new rights over their data. While GDPR ostensibly just impacts EU citizens, many large companies in the U.S. and other countries adopted new security and privacy processes to ensure consistence …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, October 23

  October 23, 2019 Jenny Thomas

  The news of the week seems to be heavily focused on two different topics: quantum computing and ransomware. IBM is looking to establish itself as a quantum computing superpower, and is ready to go to the mat with Google over its claims that Google researchers are leading the pack. And then there are the omnipresent reports of ransomware attacks, which we continue to point out in hopes it reminds our readers to make data protection a high priority. You can find links to some of the highlights (or lowlights in the case of cyberattacks) for both topics below.

  Top Stories

  … Read more

• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Number 42

  October 23, 2019 Doug Bidwell

  Some weeks are slow, and some weeks we have lots to share. This is one of those busy weeks in PTF Land. First up, we have the following message to share: APAR MA47979 – INCORROUT – HLIC – 94XXDASD – HIPER. This Hard Disk drive code has a bug! You can read this link for details. It’s not on cume yet, but see the following fixing PTFs:

  • R710 MF66663
  • R720 MF66664
  • R730 MF66665
  • R740 MF66666

  We also learned at TechU there are new announcements with a planned Availability Date of November 16, so stay tuned.

  A Security Bulletin has popped …

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• After Seven Quarters Of Growth, Power Systems Declines

  October 21, 2019 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  The tough compares have hit home on IBM’s Power Systems business, but the good news is that this has happened after seven consecutive quarters of growth for the Power-based server business that Big Blue owns lock, stock, and barrel. Even with this decline, which was quite steep because of the triple whammy of tough compares (more on that in a moment), there is still a healthy underlying Power Systems business that is much better off than the last time it was hit by similar declines.

  Let’s take a look at the numbers for IBM’s Power Systems division and then work …

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• Staying On Top Of High Availability At HelpSystems

  October 21, 2019 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  HelpSystems got its start in systems management and automation software and has expanded its solution portfolio over the years to include cybersecurity, business intelligence, document management, robotic process automation, capacity management, and more. More recently, HelpSystems entered the IBM i high availability (HA) arena with their Bug Busters acquisition in 2016. I recently checked in with Tom Huntington, executive vice president of technical solutions at HelpSystems, and Tim Woodfield, director of development, to get an update on the company’s HA offering.

  “HelpSystems does a good job of listening to the things our customers like and don’t like about their …

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• Guru: Debugging Common Table Expressions

  October 21, 2019 Ted Holt

  I cannot say enough good things about common table expressions. Words like wonderful and marvelous don’t begin to describe them. However, CTEs do add a bit of complexity to an SQL query, and when the result set doesn’t contain the correct results, any common table expression can be the culprit. Fortunately, debugging queries with common table expressions is not difficult.

  To illustrate what I mean, let’s assume we have a query that retrieves shipment information for one day. It involves a few tables:

  • a one-row table containing a shipment date
  • a table of shipment header information
  • a customer master table

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• Unperspective: Get Over Yourself

  October 21, 2019 Trevor Perry

  Some days I am a moron. And not just an average moron, but a complete moron.

  This week, I was speaking at a technology conference. As the momentary “expert” on the topic, I felt I was teaching well, and the audience was learning well.

  First, moron behavior. I read my reviews immediately before my next session. The majority were constructive, however, one stood out. It said that the “speaker was combative” and “derogatory to the audience.” I walked into that next session in a daze.

  My immediate reaction was defensive. I realized that the one person who kept challenging me …

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• IBM i Badges Reward You For Community Participation

  October 20, 2019 Alex Woodie

  If you are proficient on the IBM i platform and active in the IBM i community, then you might be interested in the new IBM i Community Badge Program sponsored by Big Blue that rewards IBM i professionals with digital certificates for actively engaging with the community. Nearly 100 badges have already been handed out, so don’t be surprised when they start popping up on the Web.

  The IBM i Community Badge Program officially debuted last Tuesday, October 8 – the same day that IBM launched the latest Technology Refreshes (TRs) for IBM i 7.3 and 7.4. The program, which …

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