System i shops suffering from long-running batch jobs may be able to speed up those jobs by a factor of 10 with a new product from iBoost Systems. Called iSTREAM, the product uses command substitution techniques to split single-streamed batch jobs into multiple streams that can better utilize System i horsepower. The product–which was vetted by IBMers in Rochester, Minnesota, to ensure it doesn’t do anything untoward–is being distributed in the U.S. through iBoost’s new partner, Midrange Performance Group.

iBoost Systems was formed in the European country of Cyprus late last year to market and sell i/OS

Vision Solutions recently launched a new release of RecoverNow, its continuous data protection (CDP) offering for System i servers that augments traditional tape backups with faster and more granular disk-based protection. With RecoverNow version 5.1, the company has added a new automated recovery feature that should simplify the task of recovering i/OS data following an outage or accidental deletion.

In the world of high availability, CDP is gaining momentum as a more user-friendly method of recovering lost files and (in the i/OS world) objects. The technology basically enables users to recover data as it existed at practically any point in

Companies that use ARCAD Software‘s suite of application lifecycle management (ALM) tools are now able to mange the release and deployment of applications on open systems platforms, such as Windows, Unix, and Linux, as well as System i servers. The French company’s latest version 8.9 release also brings improved testing capabilities, as well as improved support for CASE tools.

In recent years ARCAD has focused on opening its suite of tools to provide its customers with ALM functionality beyond i/OS, where it has a solid reputation and hundreds of System i customers around the world. This includes last year’s

Bug Busters Software Engineering added a number of useful features to the latest release of its high availability (HA) offering for i/OS. For starters, users will be able to perform several new types of role swaps with RSF-HA version 8.5. The new release also brings support for IPv6, new compression capabilities, intra-LPAR mirroring, and several other new functions aimed at easing the administration of a System i HA setup.

RSF-HA is the high availability version of the Remote Software Facility (RSF) product that the Seattle, Washington, software company has been developing for many years. While RSF was aimed at making

LANSA last week unveiled a new version of Open for .NET, its development and runtime tool designed to simplify .NET programmers’ access i/OS objects and data without requiring i/OS skills. With Open for .NET version 3, LANSA has made it easier to model existing i/OS resources for integration with Windows applications. Version 3 also gives the Windows application more access to System i servers, including the capability to issue commands and start i/OS programs.

LANSA Open for .NET was first released nearly two years ago as a way to streamline the integration of i/OS and .NET applications. The software–which consists

Brooks Internet Software recently launched ExcelliPrint version 4.0, a new release of the Windows-based printer utility that supports intelligent printer data stream (IPDS)-formatted print jobs from i/OS and other systems. With version 4, Brooks has bolstered the product with the capability to generate searchable PDF documents, among other new features.

ExcelliPrint is a Windows-based print server that allows any Windows desktop or server computers to be used for IPDS printing. The software works by receiving and processing IPDS print requests from i/OS-based Power Systems and System z servers, which connect to ExcelliPrint over standard IP networks, and executing those IPDS

Krengel Technology last month announced the general availability (GA) of DB2 Web Services Enabler (DB2WSE), a new product that makes it easier to integrate DB2/400 data with applications written in Java, PHP, or .NET. The product, which utilizes XML and SQL technology, is basically a replacement for JDBC and ODBC, the vendor says.

Madison Lake, Minnesota-based Krengel Tech first unveiled DB2WSE back in October 2009 as a way to simplify access to DB2/400 data from Java, PHP, and .NET programs running on Windows, Unix, and Linux operating systems. Testing for the software apparently took a little longer than expected, and

Organizations will be able to gather development-related data from a wider number of sources with the recently released Aldon Report Manager version 1.1. While the first version of the product that shipped last year was focused primarily on reporting from the i/OS environment, the new release widens the net considerably and allows IT compliance reporting for a range of operating systems, development tools, and change management tools.

Aldon issued the first release of Report Manager last fall as a way to bring a greater level of coherence to the reporting and compliance needs of development projects. Instead of trying to

San Diego-based Alvarado Hospital has adopted i/OS systems management software from CCSS to manage its System i server, the vendor announced recently. With QSystems Monitor, QMessage Monitor, and QRemote Control keeping a watchful eye on the hospital’s System i server, its IT staff has become more proactive towards performance issues.

Alvarado Hospital is an independent 306-bed medical center that was founded in 1972. About 1,200 employees work at the hospital, which provides more than 40 medical specialties, including a spine institute that is considered one of the best in the region. rnSupporting operations at Alvarado are core applications running atop

Republic Services, an $8.2 billion provider of waste management and garbage collection services, has expanded its use of iSeries Central, the suite of i/OS-based time and attendance and scheduling software from Kronos, the software vendor announced last month. Today, the company manages more than 33,000 employees at 700 locations using the Kronos software.

iSeries Central is a suite of i/OS-based software used by large companies to manage their employees. In addition to interfacing with traditional and biometric time clock devices, the software can be used to create employee schedules, and even includes an absence management component designed to minimize