• What JSON on IBM i Can Do For You

  October 14, 2015 Alex Woodie

  One of the most compelling new features that IBM added to the DB2 for i database in recent memory is support for JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), which has become the de facto standard interchange format for Web data. John Eberhard, a software engineer in IBM’s Rochester lab, recently led IT Jungle through some of the major capabilities that the new JSON data store can provide to all you IBM i shops out there. IBM shipped a technology preview of the new JSON store earlier this year with updates to IBM i 7.1 and 7.2. Unfortunately, the JSON store did not

  … Read more

• GCC: Bringing More Open Source Software to IBM i

  October 14, 2015 Alex Woodie

  One of the more interesting parts of last week’s IBM i announcements (if easily overlooked) was the introduction of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) to the platform. As IBM‘s product manager for the IBM i explained last week, the addition of GCC essentially opens the door to bringing a wide range of open source packaged applications to the IBM i environment, and provides a key building block for IBM moving forward. During his October 5 webcast on the COMMON Europe website (which you can view below), IBM i product manager Tim Rowe discussed the importance of open source software

  … Read more

• IBM Mothballs The Last Of The Power7+ Servers

  October 12, 2015 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Next year is when IBM will start rolling out its Power8+ chips, and since the Power8 chips have been in the field since April 2014, it is no surprise that Big Blue is winding down the Power7+ processors that date from October 2012. But if you have a Power7+ system and want parts, or have reasons to add Power7 machines to your fleet, you still have some time on selected models. In announcement letter 915-205, which came out on September 29, IBM warns customers and business partners that it will be removing the remaining Power7+ machines that have not

  … Read more

• BCD And Zend Aim For Expanded PHP Development

  October 12, 2015 Dan Burger

  PHP brings multi-platform capabilities, but for many IT Jungle readers it’s all about the IBM i and the RPG green-screen applications that are being lined up and converted to browser-based apps using open source PHP. The popularity of PHP in the IBM midrange community continues to grow. It’s undeniably the most successful open source story in the community. Along with that is the partnership between Zend Technologies and BCD Software. It continues to grow as well. BCD and Zend last week announced a stronger bond in their business relationship, which has been in place for three years. For BCD,

  … Read more

• Capacious LTO Gen 7 Tape Storage Comes To Market

  October 12, 2015 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops that are feeling crunched by exploding data volumes may want to check out the latest LTO Generation 7 tape drives that will soon be available from IBM and other manufacturers. Sporting a native capacity of 6 TB per cartridge and a data transfer rate of 300 MB per second, the new LTO 7 drives and media offer twice the capacity and performance of LTO 6 gear, and present a bargain for those demanding low-cost, long-term retention of massive datasets. The LTO Consortium unveiled the final LTO 7 specifications in September, and they were down from the original

  … Read more

• IBM i Tech Refresh Reiterates Database Emphasis

  October 12, 2015 Dan Burger

  Whether or not the majority of IBM i shops have an interest in SQL, IBM continues to make database enhancements its top priority as it rolls out new Technology Refreshes for its eponymous Power Systems operating system. The fact that Big Blue makes the DB2 for i database a priority is an indicator of its importance at the heart of the system. The i 7.1 TR11 and i 7.2 TR3 enhancements keep the database heart beating strong. Ever since the TR program launched with the release of IBM i 7.1 TR1 in September 2010, we’ve seen database enhancements take the

  … Read more

• IBM i Added To Power S822, PurePower Systems

  October 12, 2015 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Since the entry Power8 machines launched early last year, we have been arguing that Big Blue needs to offer IBM i on a larger span of the Power Systems machines it has in the portfolio. Customers should be able to device which is the best box for them, just like Linux and AIX shops, rather than have IBM decide that for them ahead of time. IBM’s desire to help managed service providers build denser and cheaper clusters seems to be playing into the favor of IBM i shops that want to run their own machines. This is a good side

  … Read more

• IBM i Knowledge Sharing: RSE Keyboard Shortcuts

  October 7, 2015 Dan Burger

  A thing of beauty is a joy to behold. For programmers, that thing of beauty is called a shortcut. The more you have, the greater the joy. Most RPG programmers know some shortcuts. Some are hoarded, but more often they get passed around with an “it’s better to give than receive” attitude. Call it karma, if you will. If you can go along with that, let me introduce you to the Queen of Karma–Susan Gantner. Gantner is famous in the IBM i community for coming up with programming shortcuts. They’re tacked to cubical walls, taped to computer monitors, laminated to

  … Read more

• Rocket: We’re More Than the Sum of Our (IBM i) Parts

  October 7, 2015 Alex Woodie

  Over the years, Rocket Software has bought some well-known properties in the IBM i space: Aldon, Seagull, BlueZone, iCluster. But now the Massachusetts company wants the IBM i community to think of it as a wider source of innovation for the platform, and a one-stop shop for IBM i products–including the new Rocket Mobile for i it launched at this week’s COMMON conference in Florida. “If you look throughout our portfolio,” Rocket CEO Andy Youniss says, “we have this wide variety and spectrum of products. We’ve done a really bad job of telling that story to the i world because

  … Read more

• OpenLegacy: Go from Green to GUI for Twelve Bucks

  October 7, 2015 Alex Woodie

  OpenLegacy wants to modernize your 5250 screens for $12 to $20 each as part of a new service it unveiled this week at the COMMON conference. Called OpenLegacy Click, the new service is aimed at smaller companies that don’t have the budget for full-blown modernization projects, but have a business need to convert a select number of 5250 screens to Web and mobile interfaces just the same. OpenLegacy is turning heads in the IBM i modernization space with an approach that emphasizes application re-use and open source technology. Its flagship IBM i product, called OpenLegacy iSuite, essentially models how IBM

  … Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles