What is the current name for the "server
formerly known as AS/400"? With each advertising campaign
IBM makes it more difficult for us to remember. In its latest
announcements IBM is beginning to call all its servers "systems",
and thereby the iSeries, pardon me, the i5, is now called…
System i5. But don't worry, this name won't last either.
IBM
launches Power5+ and unveils the future Power6
Big Blue launched
its second generation Power5 processor, called Power5+.
At the same time, the first details of the new Power6 processor,
which should be available in 2007, are starting to emerge.
On average the Power5+
processor is 30% faster than its predecessor, offering speeds
up to 2.2 GHz thanks to its new 90 nm technology (with smaller
circuits than the 120 nm ones of the Power5) which allows
for improved performance at a lower energy consumption rate.
The Power5+ was first
introduced in October in a number of pSeries models to reinforce
IBM's position as the top vendor of UNIX servers, ahead
of HP and Sun Microsystems. These new models, intended for
small to medium-sized businesses, are the p5 505, the p5
520, the quad-core p5 550Q and the p5 575, in addition to
the IntelliStation Power 285 blade server. Recently IBM
extended the use of the new processor to the entire p5 line,
with the exception of the model p5 595.
The Power5+ has also
been incorporated in the System i5 product family, which
includes the i5 520, i5 550, i5 570 and i5 595 models, and
introduces the new i5/OS V5R4 operating
system.
Regarding the much
awaited Power6, which is due to be launched in 2007, we
know it will be a dual-core processor with 750 million transistors
(in contrast to the 276 million on the Power5 and Power5+).
This will be possible with a new 65 nm technology, which
will significantly improve the performance and speed of
the chip.
Using new advances
in the management of circuits and larger memory caches,
the Power6 is planned to have a surprising clock speed of
between 4 and 5 GHz.
Besides technical specifications,
is important to note that Power6 systems will double the
power of a Power5+ system and will reach levels of capacity
and performance comparable to mainframes (which, according
to Frank Soltis, are likely to use Power processors too).
i5/OS V5R4 is
here
Along with the new System
i5 family, IBM launched its new operating system i5/OS V5R4, which
was introduced with the Power5+ processor.
One of the main changes to V5R4 is its general
improvement in security and auditing capabilities. The new operating
system incorporates an early warning system for intrusions and new
data encryption algorithms, as well as centralized management of
keys within the system itself. It also encompasses the capacity
to automatically replicate system value configurations between nodes
in the same cluster and presents numerous improvements for applications
development, such as new functionality for control language (CL)
-which for the first time supports subroutines-, Java and, of course,
RPG.
Some enhancements included in i5/OS V5R4 are:
Performance improvements in the database
engine and better support for OLAP and XML technologies, in addition
to allowing SQL sentences of up to 2 MB and recursive queries
Improvements in system management, including
automatic removal of unwanted files from spool, quick storage
to virtual tapes on disc, digital certificate management and more
Better portability of Java applications
thanks to the new JVM (Java Virtual Machine), which is no longer
iSeries-specific and incorporates a standard version.
Better integration with Web applications
thanks to the possibility to easily create Web services with RPG
programs
Better capacities of business continuity
management, including automatic journaling of new objects and
files in replicated libraries
Networking enhancements, including better
support for IPv6 and VPN, among other new features
IBM has also announced that V5R4 is the last
release of i5/OS that will support the i5 server models 270, 820,
830, 840, SB2 and SB3. See the full announcement here.
Web Services and XML for RPG, and much more
¿Who said that RPG is an old language? The
new functionalities in V5R4 make it very modern. For example, now
it is easier to treat XML documents thanks to new dedicated functions.
There is also a built-in Web Services client that can be used by
any ILE program (including COBOL, C, C++ and RPG), although to be
able to use it WebSphere Application Server is required.
It also includes a free format syntax editing control
and the usage of SQL Sentences with free format, the possibility
of including a prefix (or deleting it) for all the field names in
a table, and moving fields from one data structure to another according
to corresponding names (EVAL-CORR).
A "light" client has also been added
(called WDSC Lite) for developing in RPG and COBOL. All this reflects
IBM's commitment to continue making RPG the most powerful language
for the creation of business applications.
A free IDS (Intrusion Detection System)
V5R4 is the first i5/OS release to include
alerting functions when an attack or a suspicious network traffic
pattern is detected. Although IDSs are normally installed somewhere
on the network, the i5 native IDS resides directly on the TCP/IP
stack at no extra price. The alerts are sent to the auditing journal
when detecting attacks like spoofing, IP fragments, IP restricted
options or protocols, port scanning and other attacks. This allows
you to avoid security problems, like denial of service, unauthorized
access or processing disruptions. However, administrators can only
be notified in real-time about the attacks if they can count on
an alerting tool. This is why Tango/04 will offer support of the
intrusion monitor in VISUAL Message Center and VISUAL Security Suite,
which will allow for the correlation, filtering and real-time notification
of these events, as well as the automatic execution of corrective
actions (like closing a port or restricting accesses). Tango/04
solutions also provides periodic generation of intrusion auditing
reports both manually and automatically.
Good bye,
RPG II, good bye...
WebSphere Development Studio for iSeries V5R4 will
be the last release with RPG II and COBOL compilers compatible with
System/36 and RPG III and COBOL compilers compatible with System/38.
IBM is suggesting that users running applications on System/36 and
System/38 environments migrate to ILE (Integrated Language Environment)
and has announced that the compilers will be available upon request
(PRPQ).
Tango/04
Keeps Risk at Bay in Italy's Stock Exchange
Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia (CC&G),
the clearinghouse and guarantee agency that regulates the
trade of equities and Government bonds in Italy's stock
markets, is successfully using Tango/04's VISUAL
Message Center IT management solution to assess operational
risk in real time in order to authorize transactions involving
derivatives, equity and bonds.
VISUAL Message Center monitors CC&G's
IT infrastructure and applications to minimize downtime
and ensure the operating health of the agency's most critical
business services. Its Business Service Management (BSM)
capabilities enable CC&G to meet increasingly strict
Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
"We were expecting from a BSM solution
the ability to optimize our most critical business processes,
to minimize downtime, and to help us improve our Service
Levels and applications availability," says Mauro
Fonzo, Head of Systems Management at CC&G's headquarters
in Rome. "This is why we chose VISUAL Message Center,
and it has not disappointed us."
CC&G is part of the Italian Stock Exchange,
Borsa Italiana. The whole Italian stock exchange system
depends on its online clearing and guarantee services. CC&G
supervises the Italian stock market with the participation
of nearly 140 domestic and international brokers, who operate
in Italy or from abroad using a real-time electronic trading
system.
For further information about how Tango/04
VISUAL Message Center helps CC&G to optimize its critical
business processes, read the case
study.
Tango/04
Adds UNIX, AIX and Linux Monitoring to Its Flagship
BSM Solution
Companies
with applications running on UNIX, AIX and Linux
servers or logical partitions can improve the availability
and performance of their business services using
the new dedicated ThinAgents of VISUAL
Message Center, Tango/04's IT operations monitoring
and Business Service Management solution.
Tango/04 has released a set of
new Linux, AIX, Sun Solaris and Syslog ThinAgents,
providing VISUAL Message Center with new monitoring
capabilities that complement its existing coverage
of iSeries and Windows servers; Oracle, DB2 and
SQL Server databases, and network components.
"IT infrastructures are
increasingly heterogeneous, and as a result, there
is a growing need to monitor all the diverse technological
components that support business services from
a single management console," says Raul Cristian
Aguirre, CEO of Tango/04 Computing Group. "VISUAL
Message Center helps companies consolidate their
IT infrastructure management to ensure the integrity,
availability and optimal performance of their business
services across servers and databases."
The new Linux,
AIX, Sun Solaris and Syslog ThinAgents can capture
any data that can be retrieved using a command,
including file system usage, load average, CPU usage,
jobs with abusive CPU consumption, number of processes,
utilization of physical and virtual memory, processes
per user and virtual memory (swap).
UNIX servers other than AIX
or Sun Solaris can be monitored with the Syslog
ThinAgent, which reads UDP syslog messages from
UNIX servers. An HP-UX ThinAgent will be released
soon. The collected events are sent to VISUAL Message
Center's SmartConsole to be integrated in an enterprise
view or in any custom dashboard.
Tango/04
Enhances Its Security and Audit Solution, Focuses on SMBs
Small and medium
businesses (SMBs) seeking to protect their sensitive data,
consolidate the management of IT security across platforms
and comply with security best practices and audit-related
regulations, will benefit from the improved flexibility,
scalability and ease of use of the new Tango/04 VISUAL
Security Suite 1.5.
This release of VISUAL Security Suite has
a new modular architecture designed to help SMBs tackle
their IT security and audit control projects simultaneously,
effortlessly and very quickly. This new structure specifically
addresses SMBs that are required to implement Sarbanes-Oxley
(SOX) Section 404 controls before June 2006. However, new
modules within VISUAL Security Suite also make it a powerful
and versatile solution for companies subject to HIPAA, SB
1386, FDA's 21 CFR Part 11, the Basel II Accord and European
privacy laws.
"Besides managing the growing
complexity of their infrastructure, IT Managers face the
challenge of strengthening security and delivering top quality
service to users," said Raul Aguirre, President
and CEO of Tango/04 Computing Group. "At the same
time, they are required by top executives to implement the
necessary audit controls to meet regulatory requirements.
Helping IT Managers easily and efficiently solve all these
dilemmas is the purpose of VISUAL Security Suite."
With simplicity and ease of use in
mind, VISUAL Security Suite helps companies manage the massive
amount of heterogeneous information coming from every infrastructure
component and application. It consolidates logs with any
format, prioritizes events according to their business impact,
and automatically filters out irrelevant and false events.
The new Tango/04
Data Monitor add-on module enables record-level auditing
of changes to IBM DB2 for iSeries and Microsoft SQL Server
databases to detect suspicious activity, prevent fraud and
comply with regulations that require audit trail and data
auditing capabilities. Oracle database support will be announced
shortly.
Many international companies are
already using VISUAL Security Suite. Henry
Schein, a worldwide distributor of dental, medical and
veterinary products, relies on Tango/04's solution to implement
SOX Section 404 controls. A leading Spanish bank uses VISUAL
Security Suite for all its data auditing and security management
needs.
The iSeries obtains
another security certification
The iSeries (or i5, or System i5) is well recognized
as the safest system available on the market. Thus, it is not
a surprise that it obtained the Common
Criteria certification, developed by the US government and
awarded by the NIAP (National Information Assurance Partnership).
This certification is in any case an important achievement and
a further guarantee for users. However, Windows systems also
obtained this certification recently, prompting the security
expert Bruce Schneier to declare ironically that it demonstrates
"how weak such a certification really is".
________
New leader for iSeries Marketing
Just when we were starting to like him, Peter
Bingaman unexpectedly left the iSeries marketing director position.
His resignation caused some worry, as he brought a lot of energy,
great ideas and good results to the promotion of the iSeries.
He was the man behind the popular TV
and print ads that played an important role in improving
the image of the server previously known as AS/400. IBM rapidly
appointed Elaine Lennox, previously Vice President of SMB sales
for IBM's servers and storage products, for the position.
________
Sales slide while waiting for Power5+
iSeries sales dropped 18% during the last quarter
of 2005. After three very positive quarters, in which sales
increased 1%, 10% and 25%, unexpectedly the last quarter offered
a negative result, although overall 2005 sales showed an increase
over the previous year. Analysts agreed that many potential
buyers preferred to wait a few months, as it was public knowledge
that the new Power5+ chip and VR54 i5/OS would be released in
the first quarter of 2006. Rochester expects 2006 to be another
year of growth for the iSeries.
________
Less and less allies for Itanium
Dell announced it will discontinue its server
line equipped with Intel Itanium processors. This move by the
historic Intel ally shows the difficulties the processor is
having in the server market. Dell, the biggest vendor of the
Intel processor in the world, reduced the importance of its
announcement emphasizing it will not slow down Itanium server
sales, but reality seems to point in the opposite direction.
________
Windows Vista will need more muscle
than Superman...
Microsoft's future is highly dependent on the success of its
Windows Vista operative system, which could hit the markets
by the end of 2006. At least on paper it looks like the "superhero"
version of Windows XP, with many new features, more graphic
capabilities, an ambitious interface and many new functionalities.
The problem is that Windows Vista will also need a "supercomputer",
with a lot of muscle and super powers to run properly. To take
advantage of all its features, Windows Vista will need a graphic
chip, memory, processor and a monitor that do not come with
most PCs today. And we still don't know the extent of the migration
problems that might occur in the transition from Windows 2000
and XP to the new system.
Residencies
at IBM Rochester
Do you want to travel to Rochester
for free? IBM's Redbooks are developed through an exclusive program
- Residency - directed at IBM's technical professionals and their
Business Partners and clients in general.
Depending on the requirements,
IBM evaluates the proposed candidates and selects the team of residents
who will work in one of IBM's ITSO centers for a period of two to
eight weeks creating or updating a Redbook.
Would you like to take part
in one of these groups? Select a Residency from the list and apply
for the program here.
Note: ITSO will pay
for the travel expenses and accommodation of the residents, but
does not compensate the Residents for their time or services. You
can find complete information about the Residency program and how
it works on the web
page.
Redbooks
for iSeries
Keep abreast of the latest IBM Redbooks. Here
you will find the complete list of Redbooks for iSeries.
Latest
Update
Consultthe official list of the latest cumulative
packages of PTFs and other support information from IBM.
End Date
of Support
Find here
the official end date of IBM support and the period for upgrades
to newer versions for each version of OS/400 and i5/OS.
Published
by Tango/04 Computing Group www.tango04.com
Tel. +34 93 274 00 51
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