Old COBOL Dog, New JSON, XML and Mobile Workload Tricks
March 3, 2021
What is an old dog? What is a new trick? If COBOL were a human, its 61 years might make it seem eligible for early retirement. But something strange has been happening in the world of established business technology, beginning with the non-retirement of highly-experienced technologists. Yes, there are plenty of people who have followed […]
ArticlesTechnology Training in a Virtual Landscape
March 3, 2021
By now, we’ve all become used to all things virtual. Our meetings, happy hours and family gatherings have all been taking place online. With life still moving forward, effective technology trainings are among other important matters that have moved to virtual. While the popularity of live virtual training and learning had been steadily on the […]
ArticlesUpdating to HMC v9
March 2, 2021
IBM brought out HMC v9 M910 in March 2018 for x86, Power and virtual HMCs. Since then, there have been numerous updates to the v9 code, adding features and fixing bugs. As new releases have come out, requirements for the HMC hardware have changed. The latest release (V9R2M950) no longer supports the x86 HMCs (7042-*) […]
ArticlesTom Huntington on the 2020 HelpSystems Survey and the Effects of the Pandemic
March 2, 2021
Paul Tuohy: Hi everybody. Welcome to another iTalk with Tuohy. So actually it seems like the other day that we were talking Tom and it pretty much was so— Tom Huntington: Right. It was. Paul: I’m joined today by Tom Huntington, who is the executive VP of Technical Solutions on HelpSystems, and we […]
ArticlesWalden Leverich on Open-Source Licensing
February 25, 2021
Charlie Guarino: Hi everybody and welcome to another edition of TechTalk. I’m joined here today by my friend Walden Leverich. Walden is the CEO and founder of Tech Software, a company that delivers software as a service solution for compliance, governance and clinical trial management to hospitals, universities, government agencies, and private sector enterprises. Walden, […]
PodcastsAlixander Joel Laffredo-Dietrich on Joining the Tech Industry and Looking to the Future
February 25, 2021
Reg Harbeck: Hi, I’m Reg Harbeck and today I’m here with Alixander Joel Laffredo-Dietrich, or Alix, and he is now the person in charge, among other things, of the mainframe or IBM Z or Zed portion of the IBM Champions program and a whole lot of other really interesting stuff that he’s up to. Well, […]
ArticlesInnovations in the Terminal Emulation Space
February 23, 2021
A look at innovations in the terminal emulation space, and what to keep in mind when selecting a terminal emulator vendor
ArticlesCloud Market Continues to Grow With Amazon Leading the Pack
February 19, 2021
Recent reports from the Synergy Research Group show that Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the leader in the cloud infrastructure market. AWS is Amazon’s cloud platform, and its market share made up 32% of the $37 billion cloud market in the fourth quarter of 2020. This is about $4 billion higher than the third quarter […]
ArticlesKey Considerations for Comparing NoSQL and SQL
February 19, 2021
Data models conceptually describe the logical structure of data storage inside a database. While there are many data models, we will mainly talk about two kinds in this guide: 1. Document data models The document data model uses a simpler key-value pairs storage form. The key itself typically takes the form of a string that […]
ArticlesOpen Mainframe Project Launches Tessia, and Expands the Open-Source Ecosystem
February 17, 2021
2020 was a year of widespread instability in the world of business. Companies across the globe, from small businesses to massive corporations, experienced intense financial instability as the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically affected daily life. Despite widespread uncertainty, several companies actually found themselves experiencing the opposite in 2020, reporting significant growth. One such company was the […]
ArticlesClient Story, VIOS Tips, HMC News and Why You Should Move on From AIX 7.1
February 17, 2021
Upon checking the error log, a client noticed errors that were pointing to a fiber port on their system. While the port physically existed on the machine, a fiber cable wasn’t connecting that port to a switch. The client acknowledged the port could be needed at some point, but for now they didn’t want it […]
Articles2021 AIX Performance Tuning Update
February 12, 2021
Good systems management involves not only managing system reliability, but it also involves continually trying to maximize system throughput and reduce response time for the users. This requires monitoring and tuning system resources. In order to do that, you need to first determine what your key measurement and tuning criteria are. The first step is […]
ArticlesThe History and Evolution of the VM Workshop
February 11, 2021
The VM Workshop, begun in 1977, was a popular conference largely because the VM community was vibrant and the platform was widely used. “We had tens of thousands of users around the world,” says Len Diegel, president of the workshop and member of the board of directors. Diegel was also a manager on a VM […]
ArticlesHow Air-Gap Backup and Tape-Based Technology Protect Against Cybercrime
February 10, 2021
Cybercrime is a prevalent topic in today’s news. It’s changing the way business is conducted to maintain data integrity and protection from theft. Data is the life blood of any organization; cybercriminals seek to exploit data from human as well as security vulnerabilities inherent to the software or hardware structures. Much of corporate data today […]
E-BooksTechChannel E-book: Using Modern IBM i Application Development Tools
February 8, 2021
Today’s RPG is barely recognizable as its earlier version—in format, syntax, capability and flexibility. It evolved along with programmer needs into a fully free-form language that modern programmers can easily pick up. And RDi is the only editor that supports all modern RPG syntax and features. Similarly, one of the IBM i platform’s greatest strengths […]
ArticlesWhy Certificate Rotation Matters to Your Kubernetes and OpenShift Clusters’ Security
February 8, 2021
In a 2019 survey, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) found that a majority (84%) of respondents were running containers in production. That’s 15% more than the previous year. CNCF also learned that the percentage of organizations running 250 or more containers in production was up 28%. So, why is this happening? Organizations are increasingly […]
PodcastsSkip Robinson on SHARE, JES2 and Programming Over the Years
February 3, 2021
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with my friend and colleague Skip Robinson who is a major contributor at SHARE and a really experienced mainframer. Well rather than tell you all about it myself, Skip, welcome. Tell us. How did you end up at the mainframe and SHARE? Skip […]
ArticlesCreating Bootable AIX OVA Images
February 2, 2021
A new command is included with Technology Level 5 for AIX 7.2 which will allow AIX administrators to create an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) package. This utility will enable admins to capture a bootable OVA image of their AIX systems rootvg. This OVA package can then either be imported into PowerVC for automated VM deployment […]
ArticlesThe 2021 Arcati Mainframe Yearbook Is Now Available
February 2, 2021
I’m reliably informed that the 2021 edition of the Arcati Mainframe Yearbook has now been published. This fascinating publication is completely free and can be downloaded from the Arcati website. It’s interesting that there are still some mainframers who haven’t come across this publication, even though many mainframers look out for it each year in […]
ArticlesThe Incredible i Show Spotlights the Latest on IBM i
February 1, 2021
“The Incredible i Show” is an IBM i podcast hosted by Peg Tuttle and Tony Turetsky. Tuttle has worked on IBM i her entire 35+ year career, while Turetsky is a newcomer, named an IBM i Fresh Face in 2020. Tuttle and Turetsky launched this podcast to gather and disseminate information about IBM i. The […]
ArticlesHow COBOL REDEFINES the Way You Think About Business Programming
February 1, 2021
“I got it started. It should build itself now.” So a local builder advised a cousin-in-law of mine in rural Poland who was building a house, and had requested assistance with putting the roof in place. Being more of an academic than a builder, my cousin was baffled—all he saw was a mostly unfinished roof […]
ArticlesWhy AIX Admins Should Know vi and ksh
February 1, 2021
People are pretty passionate about the tech that they use. That’s hardly a news flash. It can be argued that none of us is truly objective, but I’ve been through enough heated discussions over time to understand that strong feelings exist about computing. So we may as well cop to our biases. I’ll start. I […]
ArticlesAn Introduction to IBM IMS OTMA
January 29, 2021
IMS Open Transaction Manager Access (OTMA) is a component of IMS TM and is a transaction-based, connectionless client/server protocol
ArticlesThe Best Ways to Keep Your Data Private
January 28, 2021
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more people have turned to the internet to help get daily tasks safely completed. Whether it’s ordering your next grocery delivery online or hosting video calls from a make-shift home office, technology has become not just a luxury, but a necessity, for many. As vaccines begin to roll […]
ArticlesNoSQL Databases: Frequently Asked Questions
January 25, 2021
Q: What is NoSQL? When you hear someone use the term NoSQL, they’re referring to non-relational databases. Some people will tell you that NoSQL stands for “non SQL.” However, the more fitting term is “not only SQL” as some NoSQL databases continue to support SQL. NoSQL databases utilize a flexible system of storing data, compared […]