04
Mon, Nov
5 New Articles

IBM's Latest iSeries Announcements--A Closer Look

Analysis of News Events
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times
On February 12, IBM quietly released a slim package of iSeries announcements that were short on verbiage but long on implications for customers. In a handful of pages, the computer giant extended support services for OS/400 V4R5 by five months, doubled the DASD capacity of the 8XX server line with a new 35GB drive, provided less expensive upgrade paths to owners of some 7XX models, and strengthened its entry-level server lineup. Big Blue also backed up its 2002 marketing initiatives with several new rebate offers.

In the same spirit of brevity that inspired IBM, let's dive into the announcements to see what they hold for the iSeries community.

  • OS/400 V4R5 Withdrawals and Extensions--IBM declared that, on July 2, 2002, it will withdraw V4R5 from marketing. At the same time, the company stated that it will extend Program Services for V4R5 until December 31, 2002, a full five months longer than originally announced. Apparently, IBM realized that many iSeries customers won't be ready to migrate to V5R1 by the end of July. This gives them extra time to make the transition.
  • New 35GB Drives--With a formatted capacity of just over 35GB, IBM's newest iSeries drive (feature code #4319) offers twice the capacity of the current 17.54GB drives at an attractive price ($3,200 versus $2,010 for the old drives). Understand, however, that this probably won't reduce the number of drives your servers need by half. That's because the 35GB drives have the same number of disk arms as the 17.54GB drives, which means you would have half the number of disk arms to access your data?a recipe for poor I/O performance. In short, use Performance Manager/400 or Workload Estimator to estimate your disk arm requirements and act accordingly.

    These considerations aside, the 35GB drive doubles the capacity of all Model 270 and 8XX servers running OS/400 V5R1 (the drive only runs on the 270 and 8XX with V5R1). Disk capacities now stand at 840GB for the 270, 8TB for the 820, 22TB for the 830, and a whopping 38TB for the 840.

  • Changes to 7XX Upgrade Paths--If you want to add more processor or interactive CPWs to a 7XX system, you must do so before July 2, 2002. That's when IBM withdraws all 7XX CPW feature upgrades from marketing. Since the company has already eliminated 7XX model-to-model upgrades (e.g., 720 to 730, 730 to 740), this new withdrawal will leave 7XX owners with one option: upgrade to an 8XX model.

    To make such upgrades easier for some 7XX owners, IBM also announced two new 7XX-to-8XX upgrade paths. The first path, which upgrades the 720-2063 (810 CPW) to an 820-2436 (1,100 CPW), costs $70,500 less than the smallest upgrade IBM had previously offered, which was to a 2,000 CPW model. The second upgrade path, which boosts a 740-2069 (3,660 CPW) to an 830-2402 (4,200 CPW), costs $213,700 less than the original upgrade offering to a 7,350 CPW server.

  • New Model 250 Packages--With this announcement, IBM transformed the entry-level 250 from a custom-configured server to a packaged offering. The company is offering two models--the 250-0297 "Entry" package and 250-0298 "Growth" package--at prices of $8,500 and $12,000, respectively. By the way, these prices are not what you'll see in the announcement letter, which lists prices for the feature codes only and not for the underlying base system. What you'll get for these prices are fairly robust configurations that include 256MB of memory, two 17.5GB disk drives, a 4GB quarter-inch cartridge tape drive, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet I/O adapter, a twinaxial I/O adapter, and a two-line WAN I/O adapter with modem.
  • More Rebates--IBM also added three rebate offerings to its raft of incentives. The Server Consolidation and Replacement Rebate gives you a 5 percent rebate when you replace two or more AS/400 6XX or older models with an iSeries 8XX model, or an 8 percent rebate when you replace two or more qualifying non-IBM servers. Under the Enterprise and e-business Applications Rebate, you receive a 3 percent rebate on the purchase of a Model 270 or an 8 percent rebate on an 8XX purchase when you also purchase a qualifying software solution. (The list of solutions takes 14 pages, so you have plenty of options.) Finally, if you purchase or upgrade to an 8XX model, use the server as a high availability (HA) target system, and purchase a qualifying HA solution with selected HA implementation services, you'll get a 10 percent rebate under the High Availability and Implementation Services Rebate.

There's even more to this announcement than I can pack into this short article, including a new 1Ghz version of the Integrated xSeries for iSeries Server and various hardware product withdrawals. Of special note was IBM's formal notice to customers that future iSeries models will not support the SPD I/O devices and migration towers that current models support. The SPD I/O notice has broad implications for AS/400 and iSeries customers, so look for us to revisit this announcement in future issues.

Lee Kroon is a Senior Industry Analyst for Andrews Consulting Group, a firm that helps mid-sized companies manage business transformation through technology. You can reach him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

LEE KROON
Lee Kroon is a Senior Industry Analyst for Andrews Consulting Group, a firm that helps mid-sized companies manage business transformation through technology.
BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: