• Slash Job Scheduler Setup Work by Half, ASCI Says

  March 16, 2016 Alex Woodie

  A new release of the ActiveBatch job scheduler from Advanced Systems Concepts contains new features that reduces the amount of job setup work by 50 percent, the company claims. The New Jersey software company, which supports the IBM i server with its job scheduler, also unveiled the results of a survey that demonstrates the importance of job scheduling to cloud, big data, and virtualization initiatives. Among the enhancements in ActiveBatch version 10, which ASCI announced nine months ago and shipped in February, are a job library that contains hundreds of “production-ready” job templates that the company says enables developers to

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• More Thoughts On A Hybrid System Of Systems

  March 14, 2016 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  If IBM is going to take on the hegemony of Intel in the datacenter, it is going to have to do a lot more than just crank up the core count of the Power processors and license them to partners so they can make their own chips and machines. That is a good start, but what IBM and its OpenPower partners need to do is make a new kind of system that brings all of the current workloads in the datacenter together and also allows for new workloads to be run natively and in an accelerated fashion on top of

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• Learn Great Stuff From IBM i Champions At COMMON

  March 14, 2016 Alex Woodie

  There are three things that go into making IBM i a great business platform: bullet-proof hardware, reliable software, and exceptional people. If your organization invests in its people (and don’t laugh, because not every company does), it will be hard to miss this year’s annual COMMON Annual Meeting and Expo, where a group of freshly minted Champions for Power will present some compelling sessions on the platform’s latest technology. The big annual COMMON show is still nine weeks off, but the schedule is already set. Judging by the session descriptions posted to commons16.sched.org/, you can expect to fill your

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• Problem Solved, Carry On: The IBM Must Gather Tool

  March 14, 2016 Dan Burger

  The IBM i version of roadside assistance, thank your lucky stars, is better than a set of booster cables, a screwdriver, and a bungee cord. You have some remote tech support, some problem solving, some trouble shooting, and, best of all, you have something called the MustGather Data Capture tool. IBM Support created the tool, which is capable of automatically collecting debug data and fixing problems. It’s not Watson, but it’s pretty darn good. The IBM MustGather tool provides an automated option for sending/uploading MustGather data/files to IBM i Support from your IBM i Server. When executed, the tool will

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• As I See It: Playing With Pain

  March 14, 2016 Victor Rozek

  I’m loopy. Heavy drugs can do that to you. I can tell I’m loopy because my brain is operating at the speed of an impaired sloth. But I’d like to think I’m still coherent. Can’t be sure, though, because I’m loopy. (See, I just repeated myself like loopy people do.) The full effect of pain on productivity in the workplace is unknown. Millions of people go to work under the influence of prescription drugs. And those who have difficulty functioning on drugs stagger through their day enduring chronic pain. Pain, we are taught, is a private matter. Revealing it brings

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• More Jobs Lost Than Found During IBM Resource Action

  March 14, 2016 Dan Burger

  IBM‘s latest “Resource Action,” as it calls layoffs, has put the company in a position that is hard to defend. Big Blue has a ton of employees who were hired five, 10, 15, or 20 years ago to do work that no longer aligns with IBM’s strategic road map. Sorry folks, this company is not who you thought it was. And it’s no longer making money the way we thought it would. So things are changing. Years of good job reviews and loyalty to the company get you a “Thanks for Coming” award. By executive decision, IBM is going

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• No More Java 6 Support in Next Version of IBM i

  March 9, 2016 Alex Woodie

  We don’t know much about the next release of the IBM i operating system, except that it will (probably, maybe) be called version 7.3 and that it will have awesome new features, according to those who have been briefed under non-disclosure agreements. But IBM has already made one thing certain about the new OS: It won’t run Java 6. As IBM i product manager Steve Will explains, it’s time for Java developers to move on. IBM updated its Java on IBM i developerWorks webpage on February 17 to reflect the fact that IBM i 7.2 will be the last release

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• IBM Bolsters Security in 5250 Emulators

  March 9, 2016 Alex Woodie

  IBM took steps to improve the security of its widely used terminal emulation software for the IBM i server with the version 12 release of its Host Access Client Package. Among the changes in the product–the first major new release of in seven years–are more widespread use of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption protocol in both the Java-based Host On-Demand (HOD) and Personal Communications for Windows (PCOMM) products. On February 26, IBM shipped HACP version 12, which includes HOD version 12 and PCOMM version 12. The bundle is the first full refresh of the HACP package since IBM shipped

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• Five Pitfalls of VTL Data Storage in IBM i Environments

  March 9, 2016 Chris Bremer

  In this busy world, where IT engineers are expected to do more with less, there is an urgency to make quick decisions, even when it comes to big decisions like data storage. Within an IBM i environment, data storage can get complicated. Retrofitting new storage solutions–such virtual tape libraries (VTLs)–with AS/400 servers is tricky. Here are some missteps that IBM i shops do not want to make. Not Calculating the Proper System Size Sizing is often overlooked, and is most certainly the most crucial step in the process of selecting a storage solution. An improperly sized storage solution has a

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• PowerTech Goes Multi-Platform with Security Policy Software

  March 9, 2016 Dan Burger

  Regulatory compliance standards have forced companies to pay attention to IT security and be accountable for who has authority and how much authority they have. In general, the track record on this type of thing is a horror story. Organizations often hover on the verge of near compliance. And compliance requirements, by their nature, continually evolve. This is why software such as PowerTech‘s Policy Minder has been developed. It’s the responsibility of the system administrators and IT departments to make sure they are in compliance with regulatory measures like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DDS), Sarbanes-Oxley

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