• Database Enhancements Galore In Spring 2024 IBM i TRs

  May 13, 2024 Alex Woodie

  The IBM i server is a database machine at the end of the day, so it’s not surprising that the latest technology refreshes (TRs) focus heavily on enhancements to Db2 for i. From new aggregate functions for the query optimizer to new and improved SQL-based IBM i services, there’s plenty of database goodness to go around in these releases.

  On May 7, IBM announced IBM i 7.5 TR4 and 7.4 TR10. You can read the announcement letters for the two releases here and here. The functionality for the two releases, which will become generally available on June 14, is …

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• Spring 2024 IBM i Technology Refresh Unveiled by IBM

  May 8, 2024 Alex Woodie

  IBM today took the wraps off the latest Technology Refresh for the IBM i platform. When IBM i 7.5 TR4 and 7.4 TR10 ship on June 14, customers will find enhancements such as Merlin version 2, new features in Navigator and ACS, security improvements, a couple of RPG enhancements, HA and DR enhancements, and a host of new SQL-based database services, among other capabilities.

  In addition to new features, which we’ll get to in a second, the launch of IBM i 7.5 TR4 and 7.4 TR10 is important for an unexpected reason: It will mark the beginning of IBM’s transition …

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• Guru: Fooling Around With SQL And RPG

  April 15, 2024 Gregory Simmons

  Editor’s Note: This was originally scheduled to be published on April 1. No joke. And for a lot of complex reasons, that could not happen. But, it’s still fun, so enjoy.

  I started out one morning, purely interested in having a bit of fun. Honest. In RSS within ACS, I often like to run this SQL:

   select *
   from json_table(
        QSYS2.HTTP_GET('https://icanhazdadjoke.com/',
                '{"header": "Accept,application/json", "sslTolerate":"true"}'),
                'lax $' columns ("joke" varchar(200) CCSID 1208)
        )
  

  

  Okay, that was fun. This is harmless, good fun. But then I thought, what if I put this into a simple RPG program? Then I …

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• Precisely Streams IBM i Data Into Amazon’s New Db2 Service

  April 8, 2024 Alex Woodie

  Amid the torrent of news that Amazon Web Services unveiled at its re:Invent show four months ago was RDS for Db2, a new hosted relational data service based on IBM’s database. Amazon Web Services offers the Linux, Unix, and Windows (LUW) variant of Db2, but thanks to a new connector unveiled by Precisely last week, IBM i and mainframe shops have a way to replicate their data into it.

  Amazon RDS is among the cloud giant’s most popular services, and likely one of the most popular IT services ever created. According to one estimate, Amazon RDS brings in $7 billion …

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• What’s Up with Open Source on IBM i?

  March 27, 2024 Alex Woodie

  Open source software has become a steadfast component of the IBM i stack. But what open source software are IBM i shops using today? Results from Fortra’s recent IBM i Marketplace Survey provide answers.

  It may seem odd now, but open source hasn’t always been a staple of the IBM i server’s software diet. Until PHP arrived on the platform two decades ago, proprietary software was the only option for IBM i shops.

  But today, IBM i shops have hundreds of open source products to choose from. Thanks to the IBM i server’s openness, just about any product that can …

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• Ibi Reaches Out to D2b Web Query Customers, Discusses Cause of Breakup

  March 25, 2024 Alex Woodie

  Nearly six months after ibi and IBM abruptly ended their OEM relationship, ibi is now reaching out to Db2 Web Query customers and encouraging them to license the business intelligence product it was based on, its own WebFOCUS suite. An executive with ibi also provided IT Jungle with some insight into the source of the breakup and what its IBM i customers can expect going forward.

  On the same day that IBM was unveiling the Fall 2023 Technology Refresh last October, it made an unexpected announcement that shocked the IBM i community: It would no longer sell Db2 Web …

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• More Db2 Web Query Alternatives, And An Update

  March 11, 2024 Alex Woodie

  It has been five months since IBM abruptly killed off Db2 Web Query, the IBM i-based suite of business intelligence tools that Big Blue OEMed from Information Builders. Some customers have already settled on a replacement, but many others are still combing the market looking for a good fit.

  The product that is arguably the most well-positioned to replace Db2 Web Query is WebFOCUS, the Information Builders product on which Db2 Web Query is based. IBM had an OEM agreement with the New York-based company for more 15 years before it abruptly ended in October.

  IT Jungle has asked Information …

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• IBM i Chief Architect Will Gives N2i Some Platform Pointers

  January 10, 2024 Alex Woodie

  It’s hard to find someone more knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the IBM i platform than Steve Will, who holds CTO and chief architect titles at IBM. So when Will accepted an invitation from COMMON’s N2i (New to IBM i) group to speak to IBM i newcomers this week, it was a good chance to pick up something new.

  One of the first things that IBM i newcomers will notice about the IBM i is that it’s an unusual platform, in several regards. For starters, it’s older than many platforms, being able to trace its lineage back to …

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• AWS Taps Precisely to Bring IBM i Data Into Its Cloud

  December 6, 2023 Alex Woodie

  Amazon Web Services and Precisely have entered into a partnership agreement that will see AWS reselling Precisely’s data replication software to bring IBM i data into the cloud. It’s part of a larger effort by AWS to bring more IBM workloads into its data centers.

  Precisely and AWS previously had a relationship to move mainframe data into the world’s largest public cloud through a program called AWS Mainframe Modernization Data Replication. In late November, the companies announced they’re expanding the program to include IBM i. (While not technically a mainframe, the IBM i server is often called a mainframe. If …

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• IBM i Shops Have Alternatives to Db2 Web Query

  November 15, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The sudden demise of Db2 Web Query has sent customers looking for alternatives. The good news is that IBM i software vendors offer a number of pre-built solutions that can fit the bill.

  Here are some potential business intelligence tools from vendors that could serve as replacements to Db2 Web Query. We’ll take a look at open source alternatives in a future article.

  Cozzi Research SQL World

  Cozzi Research develops two query tools for IBM i, including SQL iQuery and SQL Tools, and bundles them both in a single product called SQL World.

  Cozzi positions SQL iQuery as a native …

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