November 2005

• Industry Observer -
• Choosing the Right IT Partner - There is no single best IT consultant firm; the ideal IT partner depends upon your unique needs. And choosing the best IT partner for your project requires that you evaluate your suitors using many different criteria.
• f.y.iSeries -
• Reader's Choice - Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc.'s eSend, Linoma Software's RPG Toolbox
• Got/Free? - RPG IV is making a painful but inexorable shift to free-format syntax. Here are eight rebuttals to the common reasons for staying with fixed format.
• Hot New Products -
• A Cavalcade of Penguins - Although still not widely supported in the field by iSeries shops, third-party applications for iSeries running Linux and AIX are starting to appear in strength.
• Dr. Phil on Server Sprawl - Is server sprawl really as unmanageable as it's made out to be? Maybe it's simply hiding a different problem.
• The Reckless Pursuit of SSO - Is SSO an idea that offers more style than substance? Sean Chandler offers his reasons for believing that we should approach SSO fully aware of what it can and cannot do and be prepared to compensate for its shortcomings in any implementation of it.
• Dr. I Doctor - Dr. I Doctor suggests an inexpensive yet powerful network server appliance and explains the security risks of Web-based chat clients.
• XML Data Retrieval Standards Overview - Whether you use XSLT or XQuery to process XML documents may depend on your programming background or on the task you must perform. Knowing the strengths of each standard will help you choose the one that best fits your needs.
• Killer Club Tech -
• iSeries Navigator Concepts - iSeries Navigator provides an array of functions and features, some of which you may be unfamiliar with or not fully understand. But once you have a grounding in the main terms and concepts, you'll find using iSeries Nav easier than ever.
• Get Compliant: Eliminate Your Top Security Exposures - Now is our chance to get security right, while it has everyone's attention. Understand the top system security exposures and implement and use smart tools in conjunction with the system's native capabilities to identify and mitigate these vulnerabilities.
• SSL VPNs Simplify Remote User Security - Virtual Private Networks are the most popular Internet killer app, after e-mail. Alas, setting up users with IPSec VPNs is a complex undertaking and a constant source of support headaches. SSL VPNs let you achieve nearly all the benefits of IPSec with the convenience of a Web browser.
• Breathing New Life into DSPLYT - DSPLYT has always been a popular advantage to DSPFFD, but with new features and greater flexibility, DSPLYTR could quickly become your new favorite display layout utility.
• A Customer Search Utility, Part 2 - This customer search utility finds customer records by various criteria, is easy to use, and can be incorporated into a package as a "swap-in" replacement. Part 2 covers the building of the index files that drive the utility.
• XML Security Considerations - The inventors of XML anticipated the need for secure transmission and built data encryption into the standard. Learn how to encrypt XML documents properly for safe transport, and you'll remove one more chink in the enterprise security armor.
• A Beginner's Guide to Virtual Ethernet and Hosting Partitions - Virtualization means you can bring your resources to your workload, not the other way around. Find out how, and learn the benefits of a "virtualized" environment.
• Cryptographic Services APIs: A Tutorial - The iSeries Cryptographic Services APIs provide a powerful cryptographic tool set that you can use to protect data privacy, ensure data integrity, and authenticate communicating parties. But before you can put these APIs to work effectively, you must understand their basic instructions.
• SSL on the iSeries: Where Do I Start? - Implementing SSL can be intimidating for many people. But once you understand the workings of SSL's building blocks and protocol itself, you'll be prepared to make your applications the newest SSL-enabled apps on the market.
• Write Your First Portlet with WebSphere Portal - Portlet development is easier than you might think. Whether you're a new or experienced Web programmer, you can have this useful FAQ application up and running in a couple of hours.
• SSL VPN Gateway Product Roundup - SSL VPN gateway products — both hardware and software — are gaining favor over their more cumbersome IPSec cousins. Learn about SSL VPN gateway speeds and feeds in this product roundup.
• i5 Editions: What Your i5 Says About You - These days, iSeries customers can choose from the Enterprise, Standard, Express, Value, and Solution Editions. And on the Solution Editions, there are 12 ISV packages they can choose from, too. And you thought ordering a pizza was difficult!
• IBM Announcements -
• A Singular Sensation: SSO and Regulatory Compliance on the iSeries - Password-elimination single sign-on can simplify and improve functions related to identity and access management that are necessary for regulatory compliance on the iSeries.
• Bridging the Business-to-Business Information Gap - Using FTP over the Internet is one of the simplest ways to share business information. nuBridges' truExchange Secure FTP secures that process and provides automation, encryption, and other features that support EDI transactions as well.
• The Essential Guide to Connecting Excel and the iSeries - Have nightmares about getting iSeries data to Excel worksheets for reporting or other uses? Rest easy — this Essential Guide will lead you step by step through a number of surprisingly simple solutions that make short work of iSeries/Excel data transfer.
• The Essential Guide to Stored Procedures - Stored procedures provide improved performance and security for client applications and enable you to invoke server functions that aren’t directly available as part of the database interface.