IBM Intros New IBM i System Features, RPG in 2010

IBM made a flurry of announcements in October, most focusing on new connectivity and support options for storage, solid state drives (SSDs), and enhanced availability. In addition, IBM took advantage of the timing to make a statement of direction for the next version of IBM i, slated for early 2010, which means there's a more than decent chance IBM will officially unveil the next big release of IBM i at the COMMON conference in May.

Perhaps most interesting is that the Power Systems IBM i team has been working with the IBM Rational team to create enhancements to RPG that will let RPG programs easily work a variety of client applications, including web services, mobile devices, and XML.

"Today RPG is very much tied to a 5250 output," says Craig Johnson, an IBM Power Systems software product manager for IBM i, PHP, and MySQL. "There are tools like HATS and other third-party tools that take that to web browsers and other things, but it's really tied to 5250, and what we're working on with Rational is to break that tie and allow partners, ISVs, and programmers to take RPG to any type of device—mobile devices, XML, web services, so there's some significant enhancements coming for RPG developers."

Back to the Here and Now
Meanwhile, IBM has released a variety of new enhancements that extend IBM i storage and virtualization options right now, some of which may require the new IBM i 6.1.1 release that provides support for the enhancements. IBM has:

• Expanded options for storage consolidation with IBM Systems Storage Solutions: IBM is delivering direct fibre channel support for the DS5100, DS5300 and DS8700. The DS5020 and DS8700 are also supported via PowerVM VIOS (the DS5100 and DS5300 are also supported via VIOS as well).
• Enhanced support for reducing costs with PowerVM I/O Virtualization: IBM has added support for redundant VIOS partitions.
• Enhanced support for breakthrough I/O performance with Solid State Drives (SSD): IBM i customers can place some data on SSDs in SAN and VIOS configurations. IBM is delivering a new SSD Analyzer Tool, which helps you determine if SSDs will provide benefits of significance.
• Optimal integrated disk solution now available for mid-sized clients: IBM is offering a 380MB Cache SAS Disk Controller with 12X PCIe I/O drawers with SFF disk, in addition to the 1.5GB version for large customers.
• Enhanced availability option for RAID configurations: IBM's new Dual SAS RAID Adapter support provides adapter and cache redundancy, and this supports the new PCIe 380MB and PCI-X 1.5GB Cache SAS RAID Adapters.
• Support for new I/O devices and options: IBM is offering a higher capacity 139GB SAS SFF Disk Drive; a 12X I/O Drawer for PCIe adapters, no disk; SSD support in a 12X I/O Drawer; and hot spare for mirroring.

Announcing 6.1.1
IBM's new IBM i 6.1.1 release is required for the new SSD VIOS solutions, as well as the direct fibre channel to the DS5100 and DS5300. Plus, IBM is looking to make it possible to upgrade IBM i 6.1 from an image on a customer's network. This is mostly about breaking the need for DVDs to install the OS, which makes it easier to deploy several systems and partitions.

More, But 6.1 Is Needed
IBM also announced a new i Edition for BladeCenter S with RAID support, so that it now includes RAID SAS Switch Modules and IBM i pre-installation.

IBM has introduced a Temporary File System that significantly improves IFS performance for applications that use temporary data in a file system—IBM says it can help IFS performance improve by 70 to 80 percent.

IBM has enhanced its IBM i Performance Data Investigator with new features including graphical health indicators for system resources and integration with Workload Estimator for upgrade sizing (the tool is provided with Systems Director Navigator for i).

For better availability management, IBM is now offering HA Assist for i, which is a logical replication solution used to replicate objects that are neither supported via IASPs or the Cluster Admin Domain.

IBM i Access Support for Windows 7
IBM's next service pack for 6.1 IBM i Access for Windows will provide support for Windows 7—with a scheduled release on December 1. Note: there are no IBM plans to support Windows 7 with 5.4 IBM i Access for Windows.

IBM also warns that, as customers plan to adopt Windows 7, they should be aware that the AFP Driver and AFP Viewer components in the 6.1 IBM i Access for Windows client will not be supported on Windows 7 until sometime in 2010. Plus, Windows 7 has a similar security model as Windows Vista; therefore, some IBM i Access for Windows functions require elevated authority (refer to Information APAR II14338 for details). Support for 6.1 IBM i Access for Windows can be acquired for IBM i 5.4 or later by ordering 5722XW1 (IBM i Access Family) refresh feature 2649. For more information, IBM is pointing customers to ibm.com/systems/i/software/access/planning.html.

—Chris Maxcer, News Editor