Planet i

The world of audits is a reality that more financial companies are learning to live with. One of the things being audited are the texts sent to social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. It is for that reason I have ventured further into the APIs Twitter offers so I could learn how to do more advance queries for archiving purposes.  Essentially a “cover your butt” effort.

The article on IBM developerWorks is officially titled “Cover your bases with TweetMe4i and JSON” but I originally submitted it with “butt” instead of “bases”.

Who wants to cover their bases when their butt is exposed? Is there a new body part name “bases” that I don’t know about?  I will admit I had no idea eggs weren’t a dairy product until earlier this week - after my wife got done laughing she explained it to me.  So I guess I wouldn’t put the “bases” body part past me as something never before heard of…  For some reason I always categorized eggs as dairy.  Because of this gaffe I will be starting a new support group that aims to teach the foundational truths of the food groups and what is in each.  This group will be a big relief to those of us that have “food deception” over the years.

AaronBartell.com

Read the original at Young i Perspectives.

I just saw a post on a forum that advocates the use of PASE running under IBM i on your Power Machines to install and run Unix or Linux based applications. 

Does anyone besides me see the lunacy of this type of recommendation?  PASE was a fantastic environment and was used back in the mid-1990's by IBM to port web based applications like DNS servers, mail servers, and other open source UNIX or LINUX based Internet servers to the iSeries (name at the time).  Interestingly enough PASE contained a full blown POSIX (read UNIX) system with full XWindows support as well as all of the UNIX facilities.  The only problem with PASE was that it required specialized knowledge of PASE's implementation under OS/400 and the product ran under OS/400 adding unnecessary overhead on top of the PASE environment.

Today your IBM i operating system (OS/400's new name) runs on IBM Power machines.  This same machine will enable you to create an AIX or preferably LINUX based machine along side your IBM i virtual machine.  You can easily access the IBM i DB2/400 database form the LINUX or AIX machine and your UNIX/Linux applications will run substantially faster under the native Linux OS than in the PASE environment under IBM i. 

The folks advocating this nonsense cannot even advocate leveraging IBM i skills as running apps under PASE requires extensive UNIX skills to do the job correctly plus IBM i skills making the person that does that a bit of a technical freak and extremely expensive.  In addition to application developer you need an IBM i administrator who is also a UNIX administrator...  Good luck on that one.

Why not run these apps under LINUX and get an LINUX expert to manage the system?

Also, if the UNIX/LINUX application is a vendor based application ask if they will support it running under PASE on IBM i!  They will most likely tell you that they will not and that you are nuts for even thinking about it!

PASE was a great environment when you could not run native AIX or LINUX virtual machines on the same physical box and when you could not share DASD or other resources that have all since been rectified on current IBM Power machines.

Come on folks get real!  If you want to stay with IBM Power machines then get with LINUX.  IBM spent $1 Billion in 2001 to get Linux established.  They are currently spending more money each year on Linux support with approximately 300 dedicated IBM employees working for the Linux foundation.  Linux runs on ALL IBM platforms including the xSeries, Power Systems, and IBM's venerable zSeries mainframes.  

Wake up and look at the realities.  RPG is extinct., COBOL is rapidly dying off, and Java or C++ are the development languages of the future with programmers contracted from off shore outsourcing companies. 

Read the original at Bob Cancilla on IBM i.

Merriam-Webster defines the noun "champion" as:

1: warrior, fighter

2: a militant advocate or defender

3: one that does battle for another's rights or honor

4: a winner of first prize or first place in competition; also : one who shows marked superiority


While I like all the definitions and believe they could apply equally, let's focus on number 2. Using the second definition, what would it mean to be a DB2 for i champion?

If we (somewhat reluctantly) remove the adjective "militant", what is required to be an advocate or defender of DB2 for i?

First and foremost I would say current knowledge, then skill gained through study and practice. Like any world class athlete, it takes guidance, coaching and consistent training to reach the highest levels. The same applies to information technology and data-centric programming. To effectively meet business requirements you need to leverage technology in appropriate ways. But if you lack the understanding, the proficiency and the stamina to do so, then your efforts will fall short. You will not reach your goal, and likely be trampled by the competition.

So, the first step to becoming a "DB2 for i champion" is to get educated. This will take effort, time and possibly money. The return on the investment will be twofold, namely: less risk, and more value. Something every business wants to have, and every person wants to deliver. After all, value = money.

Let's start by getting familiar with all of the DB2 features and functions delivered in V5R4, 6.1 and 7.1.  You can find Kent Milligan's overview presentations here.

For years I've recommended that IT professionals take 1 hour every week and do something different. Get away from the everyday tasks and do some research; investigate something you've heard about, discover something that is new and different, browse a reference manual (notice I didn't say "read" the manual).  As you review and recognize something, file it away. A related idea is: assume there is a way to do your data-centric work via SQL. (IBM i champion and good friend Jon Paris explains my approach as "SQL is the answer, now what is question". Jon is a very wise guy by the way). Scan the SQL reference guide looking for the technique, statement or function.  More often than not, you'll discover a way to accomplish the task using SQL - with a minimum amount of effort, i.e. DB2 does the heavy lifting so you don't have to. As a bonus to looking for the feature or function in question, you're likely to stumble across something else along the way - something you've never heard of or thought of before (hmmm... SOUNDEX scalar function). Through the process, you'll be gaining more awareness and knowledge.

From a broader perspective, another way to gain a competitive advantage is to get acquainted with data modeling. Endeavor to acquire a basic understanding of ERDs, LDMs and PDMs (yes more acronyms, look 'em up). Explore the art and science of representing business entities in a relational database. Refresh or clarify your knowledge of normalization and its purpose in the world of information storage and access.


Our DB2 for i Center of Excellence team strives to provide guidance and knowledge. We accomplish this in part by participating in conferences, forums and engagements around the world.  As subject matter experts we work to illuminate the techniques and best practices for productive information management using IBM i.

While studying alone is fruitful, sparring interacting with experts is even better. Find a way to engage us at one or more of the excellent events listed below.  You will not be disappointed.


Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association Spring Conference

RPG & DB2 Summit

Northeast IBM i User Groups Conference

IBM Power Systems Technical Symposium

COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition

IBM Power Systems Technical University

Once you acquire current knowledge and begin to practice your skills, don't be afraid to defend your territory and technology. Be prepared to fight for the right to demonstrate your new found capabilities. Act like a champion. Assume you can indeed accomplish what's required to meet business demands. Then go figure out how to get it done with IBM i and DB2.

Do not tolerate people asking "Why DB2 for i"?  Counter with "Why NOT DB2 for i".
Stay focused and handle objections, then go on the offensive. Provide more value.

If you find yourself getting more excited and enthusiastic about database, consider becoming the official champion within your company or line of business. Carve out a position within your organization and don the mantle of DB2 for i Engineer or Architect. We'll help. We've got your back.

In the mean time, I hope to see you out in the audience sooner than later!

Read the original at DB2 for i.

It is all about perception! If you look at it one way, you call it one thing. If you look at it another way, you call it something else. How is your perspective?

Read the original at IBM i for everyone!.

Many folks who explore PHP on IBM i are very excited about a solution that works quickly, easily and efficiently. When you grow up from hello world to data inquiry to full blown CRUD you begin to pull a bit harder on the resources that the IBM i has to offer. And it happily accommodates you.

Myths
So there are many “myths” about the IBM i. Some will insist that Linux servers are “faster” than the IBM i. In part that may be true and false but for a variety of reasons. However, most of my customers do not have an IBM i because it is the “fastest” computer in the house even though these new Power 7 servers are pretty zippy. Most of my customers have IBM i because of the fact that they lived through the reality of TCO and they have legacy system investments that span decades that they simply do not wish to walk away from. Others will have you believe that the IBM i is not modern. To that I say you have not been to an IBM i event, lately. There are more advanced features in an IBM i today than ever before. With Virtualized everything, PHP, Java, MySQL and all the power of RPG Open Access the IBM i competes quite effectively. But I will spend a few minutes here speaking about the primary value prop of the IBM i: Consolidation.

All the eggs
Consolidation is all about many different workloads happily coexisting on a single platform. It reminds me of growing up on the Southwest side of Chicago in a 2 bedroom bungalow where my parents and three siblings “peaceably” coexisted for many years. Sure there was some tension when we were all packed into a small space. But it also brought about an intimacy that today seems impossible to duplicate no matter how often we “get together”. As we have scattered to the 4 winds we still maintain a closeness, but not nearly as strong as the days we were all together. So one would argue that at times having 6 people in line for the bathroom could slow us down. But at other times, when we wanted to install a new pool, many hands made for light work and would or could do things in a day that could never be accomplished by a single person. I see significant similarities between this life growing up and the data center that blasts apart applications by platform.

PHP
Getting back to PHP, when you have all these applications happily humming along on your IBM i there are bound to be conflicts, just like between me and my brother and sisters and so on. So what should we look for? The first thing to do is “don’t just throw hardware at the problem”. Even if you completely believe that hardware is your issue, you should still capture some metrics. There are several tool vendors that can gather these metrics as well as IBM. One partner I worked with had a relationship where they were able to “rent” the tools to create reports. These reports proved we need the hardware, but also confirmed exactly what hardware was needed, where and when we were i/o or memory bound, etc. So let’s pretend that you have resolved the hardware issues, where do you go next?

Working through the “work management” features of IBM can sometimes seem like a dark art. So do the right thing and get a little help. Maybe you go to COMMON and follow the iDevCloud guys, Larry Bolhuis and Jim Oberholtzer like groupies! Another good call is to call your business partner and they offer some services. It’s OK to Google the issue and lurk around Midrange.com for solutions too. But the worst thing you can do is throw hardware at the problem and assume it is fixed or suffer in silence.

PHP workload can be very diverse. One of the things I always tell my users in a demo is that DB2 performance improvements made in PHP applications help not only the PHP script response time, but it also reduces the load on DB2! And, just like the rising tide that raises all boats, every reduction in resources made by building better indexes in DB2 leaves more CPW for the rest of the server. CPW that drives RPG, PHP, Domino and all other kinds of workload. I have a customer who was planning a hardware upgrade. We recommended that they turn on some key features in Zend Server and then upgrade from V5R4 to i7.1. Once they did, new tools became available to indicate where there were performance bottlenecks in their server. No, the upgrade was for the right reasons Disk and RAM rather than “let’s just go to the latest hardware…” Please do not misunderstand me, if you need new hardware, processors, etc. then the investment should be made. But it should be made intelligently. Newer prices on Power7 hardware and maintenance can, in many cases, make the case for upgrading. Get your IBM BP involved and if you do not have an IBM BP or it is time for a change reach out to someone you trust. We have had good luck with the iDevCloud folks and you can too.

This was just a nugget of what we will talk about in the next IBM i webinar at Zend.com. Tune in for more so you too can benefit from the performance possibilities of Zend Server and IBM i.

Read the original at Mike's IBM i PHP blog and more....

If you’ve installed Zend Server for IBM i and are planning to remove the older Zend Core for i5/OS, first check that Zend Core’s version is at least 2.6.1.

Zend Core must be at 2.6.1+ because if you uninstall version 2.6.0 or lower,  portions of Zend Server will be uninstalled as well. Therefore, update your old Zend Core to 2.6.1+ before uninstalling.

Resources

• Instructions for safe removal of Zend Core for i5/OS
• Zend Core updates (scroll to bottom of that page)

Read the original at Alan Seiden's PHP and IBM i Resources.

This PowerUp blog entry was written by Brian Lannoye, programmer at Masters Gallery Foods, Inc., in Plymouth, Wis. He has been working there as a...

Read the original at PowerUp.

Cloud computing is here to stay.  There are so many flavors of it at this point it is hard to digest what cloud is and is not.  Meander over to my recent article on IBMSystemsMag.com titled The Cloud Has Come; Is The Rain Good for some opines on the subject.

The next generation of computing professionals will grow up around cloud being an accepted norm (i.e. my kids do their school reports using GoogleDocs and NOT Microsoft Word or other thick client application).  What are we, the leaders of today, doing to verse ourselves in this technology to understand how it can benefit our business and also understand the things to stay away from?

Would love to hear comments of how you have embraced or stayed away from cloud.

AaronBartell.com

Read the original at Young i Perspectives.

I am often in discussions where there is confusion about what constitutes "DB2". This occurs even amongst long time users of the product. I usually start by stating: DB2 is not DB2 is not DB2.  Let me explain...

DB2 is the name of a family. It is also considered a long time IBM brand name. Simply put, there are three major DB2 family members. Each is based on a specific hardware architecture and the various operating systems that support that hardware. Each has it's own history. Each can be called "DB2".

More formally, they are known as:

DB2 for z/OS - the code base that runs on what is traditionally known as the mainframe.

DB2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows - the code base that runs on distributed systems, both 32 bit and 64 bit.

DB2 for IBM i - the code base that runs within IBM i, running on IBM Power systems.

While all the family members share the DB2 badge and support a very similar set of ANSI standard SQL statements, they also have some important differences. One of the more disconcerting items is the version/release numbering. The current version of DB2 for z/OS is 10. For DB2 LUW it's 9.7, and for DB2 for i it's 7.1.  That means that z/OS has the latest and greatest stuff, and IBM i has the oldest right?  Of course not. Each DB2 family member is on a different release schedule and sports their own version/release numbering scheme. This is based on history and packaging. In terms of delivering features and functions, each DB2 family member can be first, second, third or "not at all" depending again on underlying architecture and user requirements.

In yet another major example, all of the DB2 family members have different query optimizers and database engines, each capable of approaching an SQL request using their corresponding system attributes. In other words, they are built to take advantage of their respective hardware and software strengths while meeting their user's requirements.

Now, DB2 for i we could say is rather unique in that it is part of the IBM i object based operating system - built in, top to bottom. It is not a separate piece of software that must be acquired, installed and configured. Within IBM i, relational database is a native file system running in the microcode. I often like to say, we know how to store rows and columns on disk! The high degree of seamless integration translates into many technical advantages. It also results in an easy to own, easy to use attitude by the multitude of users around the world. By the way, the integration also explains why the current version of DB2 for i is 7.1 - it is the same numbering as the current version of IBM i!

Kent Milligan has a more in depth discussion of the DB2 family relationship here.

When approaching and making use of "DB2", it is vitally important to recognize which family member you are considering and/or working with. When coming from another relational database management system, be it DB2 or any other RDBMS product, it is absolutely critical to understand the specific attributes, capabilities and nuances of DB2 for i. It is important to know your tools and techniques.

And for the many thousands of RPG and COBOL programmers writing programs to access physical files and logical files in IBM i... yes, you too are using DB2!

Read the original at DB2 for i.

Getting to this point has taken a long time...

The idea of creating a blog to share my insights and perspectives on DB2 for i and related topics has been simmering on the back burner for months. Well, the pot is boiling now. This is due in part to the frustration of visiting yet another IBM i shop this week who are in the process of developing - rewriting really - an application to support a line of business that is expected to grow significantly in the next couple years. Lots of data, big transaction volumes, high profile users. So what's the big deal?

After 20+ years of using AS/400, iSeries, System i and now IBM i they are seriously considering abandoning the platform for WinTel - lock, stock and barrel. Let me be clear, this is not the issue. There are many solutions in the current world of IT. My frustration is based on the fact that the architects, developers, SQL Server DBAs and their managers are basing the decision to move, on the use of 15 year old applications! That is to say, they are comparing "current" WinTel server technology and capabilities against the technology of ye old AS/400. Comparing "green screen" views of text to graphical web pages. Sound familiar?

Unlike many we call upon, these folks are relatively up-to-date with IBM technology, running Power 6 processors and in the throws of moving from IBM i 6.1 to 7.1. And yet they are willing to throw out the tried and true infrastructure that got them here because of darkness. Darkness that hides all of the new and advantageous capabilities delivered over the last five releases. Capabilities that can provide significant benefits. Capabilities bought and paid for. Capabilities sitting dormant and idle within the recesses of a system once perceived as elegant and energetic.

My goal is to illuminate the data management features, functions and benefits of what I consider to be the best business system ever created. After all, most of what our illustrious system does, and does well, is handle data. To help shine the light of awareness and understanding, I will use the blog primarily as a clearing house.  And much like Shakespeare's Touchstone, act as the wise fool (mostly the latter) who guides or points the way.

To get started take a look at all the papers here. Yea, some seem dated, but they are still relevant and informational.

And as a fun and foolish exercise, read Craig Mullins' January 26, 2012 blog entry titled "A Forced Tour of Duty". As you're reading, replace the word "mainframe" with "AS/400", or "iSeries", or "IBM i".


Too much of a good thing... is a good thing.

Read the original at DB2 for i.