• Disk Array Sales Cool Off In The First Quarter

  June 16, 2014 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Here is something that a lot of people probably didn’t expect: Disk array sales took a dive in the first quarter of the year, particularly at the high end of the market. According to the latest market research from IDC, the world consumed a total of 9.9 exabytes of capacity on the combination of internal and external disk arrays from January through March, representing a mere 19.9 percent increase in capacity on a year-over-year basis. In the fourth quarter, as we previously reported, total disk array capacity shipped was up 26.2 percent to 10.2 exabytes, reversing several quarters

  … Read more

• UCG Champions Technology Upgrade

  June 16, 2014 Dan Burger

  Businesses have a tendency to evolve. If they don’t, quite often, they aren’t in business long. A key part of the evolution is maintaining a technological infrastructure that supports change. Technological evolution is an essential component for businesses in growth mode, even in IBM midrange shops where high-mileage systems that are highly reliable are a source of pride. The Ohio AFSCME Care Plan, which covers more than 41,000 public and non-profit workers in Ohio, realized it needed a technology upgrade to support not only its current requirements, but also its future growth. To assist with its technology upgrade planning and

  … Read more

• Power8 Systems Added To Long-Running Trade-In Deal

  June 16, 2014 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  We are getting ready to close out the second quarter, and IBM is in a mood to do a little wheeling and dealing to help move its stockpiles of Power7+ systems as well as the shiny new Power8 “scale-out” systems that came out back in April. In announcement letter 314-067, IBM has outlined the trade-ins for the new Power8 systems that are available under a deal that was last updated last September and that seems to have been running on again and off again for longer than I can remember. The deal is available to customers who replace vintage

  … Read more

• PC Users Snag IBM i Data With iWebSrv

  June 16, 2014 Dan Burger

  Somewhere there’s an IBM midrange shop struggling with getting data to frustrated end users. That shop is not alone in its struggle. The end users are not the only frustrated ones. Data queries and the creation of useful reports should not be so painful, so IT labor intensive, so slow, and so expensive. It’s been a long-held belief that direct access to IBM i data from people outside the system is a horrible accident waiting to happen. A couple of guys with a company called iWebSrv think there’s a solution to this problem. “Getting IT people in midrange shops to

  … Read more

• As I See It: The Game Changer

  June 16, 2014 Victor Rozek

  What’s tougher than a diamond, but able to filter water; stronger than steel, but thinner than a butterfly’s wings? Give up? OK, it does sound improbable, unless aliens are involved. So let’s try this: What’s more flexible than a Yoga instructor, and predicted to thoroughly shake up the computer industry? No, it’s not Miley Cyrus. But it is made from the same element on which life depends. Even repulsive life. It is, in fact, pure carbon, and not much of it at that. It’s as thin as thin can get and still be considered a material. In effect, it qualifies

  … Read more

• ERP Investments Rising, Complexity Waits In The Shadows

  June 16, 2014 Dan Burger

  Enterprise resource planning systems are the good, the bad, and the ugly of business computing. The benefits of a smooth-running system with integration throughout the organization are significant when compared to faulty or non-existent ERP. The marginally successful and complete failures are legendary. It’s the classic risk-reward scenario. A recent report by Computer Economics shows companies investing in ERP at a rate that tops all other enterprise software. What does that tell you? The risk is worth the reward? There are huge challenges involved whether companies are choosing to enhance existing systems, rip and replace those systems, or even implement

  … Read more

• Your Next Big Tech Job Is. . . Freelancing

  June 16, 2014 Alex Woodie

  Businesses are increasingly turning toward freelancers and independent contractors to get the expertise needed to complete many jobs, including IT-related tasks. The trend toward a more itinerant workforce will have repercussions for IBM i shops, including those that are struggling to fill jobs left by retiring Baby Boomers as well as those faced with a flood of applicants for a handful of jobs. The world around us is looking more temporary by the day. Instead of buying a car, people get a ride via Uber. Just about anything you can think of–a guitar, a bike, the comfort of a dog–is

  … Read more

• Four-Core Power8 Box For Entry IBM i Shops Ships Early

  June 16, 2014 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  The hardware resellers, software peddlers, and IBM i shops that have modest processing needs and generally modest system budgets have all been waiting for it. And IBM did not say a word about it when the initial Power8 systems were launched back in April. But, all of us in the IBM i community knew, without a doubt, that Big Blue would have to put out a four-core machine with an IBM i P05 software tier. The reason is simple: More than 95 percent of the IBM i installed base has workloads that can easily fit into an entry P05 system,

  … Read more

• Admin Alert: Reorganizing IBM i Files To Improve Disk Performance, Part 1

  June 11, 2014 Joe Hertvik

  One of the easiest ways to improve IBM i performance is to make sure all your critical files are reorganized on a regular basis. Files with excessive deleted records take longer to read because each returned record block contains deleted as well as active records. The next two columns, I’ll present a template for detecting and reorganizing your most active files to improve disk processing efficiency. Why We Reorg There are several good reasons for reorganizing files with large numbers of deleted records, including: 1. Conserving disk space–If your disk is filling up, you can retrieve a fair amount

  … Read more

• Surmounting Identity Column Challenges

  June 11, 2014 Ted Holt

  Using an identity column is a wonderful way to ensure that each row of a table (record of a physical file) has a unique identifier. It sure beats storing the next batch (invoice, transaction, etc.) number in a data area or a one-record database file. Here are a few things to keep in mind when inserting rows (writing records) into a table that has an identity column. 1. Let the system assign the value to the identity column. You do this by specifying GENERATED ALWAYS or omitting the GENERATED option when you create the table. create table Sales ( ID

  … Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles