Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Four iSeries Access Tips for Windows Professionals

Ironically, one of the problems with iSeries Access for Windows is also one of its strengths: its longevity. Starting out as a product called PC Support/400 in the late 1980s and progressing through at least three different name changes, this software has a history so long that it's almost geology. However, sometimes that history works against it, particularly when administrators who are not familiar with i5/OS and OS/400 are in charge of installing and maintaining iSeries Access for Windows desktops.
To alleviate potential problems when Windows administrators handle IBM's connectivity package to AS/400, iSeries, and i5 servers, here are four tips to help Microsoft Windows professionals create better iSeries Access software installations on the Windows desktops under their control

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Zend Technologies Delivers PHP to IBM's System i as400 Customers

Zend Technologies, Inc., the PHP company, announced an important milestone in the company's multi-year agreement with IBM to deliver PHP to the "all-in-one" System i as400 business computing solution. The immediate availability of Zend Core for i5/OS and Zend Studio Professional for i5/OS provides an integrated, open Web application development environment with native support for the world's most popular Web scripting language, PHP, and i5/OS, the flagship operating system for IBM System i.
System i customers have shown great interest in PHP during the beta test phase, with thousands of System i customers and solutions providers downloading the beta releases. Using Zend Core for i5/OS and Zend Studio Professional for i5/OS, System i customers and solutions providers can develop innovative, new Web applications rapidly and cost-effectively or create Web front ends for existing applications written in RPG, C, C++ or Java(TM). Zend Core for i5/OS will include a toolkit that enables PHP applications to easily access the integrated DB2 database and other resources in i5/OS.
The addition of PHP capabilities for i5/OS provides System i customers with access to more than 10,000 existing PHP-based components and applications which developers can use instead of writing their own. For example, many companies set up forums, wikis, blogs and other collaborative Web sites by downloading open source PHP applications and customizing them to suit their needs.
A prime example of this trend is the community web site at i5php.net, where users can find information about application development, trends and techniques, along with interactive forums. "PHP support on i5/OS provides more freedom of choice in Web development, along with protecting our current investments and assets," said Rob Ward, webmaster, i5php.net. "The low learning curve and high adoption rate combine to create tremendous momentum and interest in the System i community."
PHP is one of the most popular Web development languages. More than 22 million Internet domains deploy PHP, supported by a robust community of approximately 4.5 million PHP developers. PHP's popularity has accelerated rapidly due to its flexibility and ease of use and is implemented in everything from the simplest web forms to some of the most trafficked and complex sites on the Internet.
"We are committed to helping our System i customers and solution providers deliver innovation in their businesses easily and cost-effectively," said Mark Shearer, general manager, IBM System i. "Zend's delivery of native support for PHP on the System i platform will make available thousands of existing PHP-based applications and open up a pool of millions of skilled Web developers for use by System i clients."
Today's announcement includes:
-- Zend Core for i5/OS is a tested and enhanced version of the open source PHP language. It delivers a seamless out-of-the-box experience by bundling all necessary drivers and third-party libraries to work with i5/OS V5R4 and DB2 UDB.
-- Zend Studio Professional for i5/OS is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for professional developers, encompassing all development components needed for the full PHP application lifecycle.
System i customers can order Core and Studio from IBM or download them from the Zend web site at www.zend.com for no additional charge. These offerings include three years of Standard support from Zend, provided through the Zend Network. This includes product downloads including current and previous versions, software updates and information, knowledge base access, and Web-based support including unlimited support tickets. Additional support options are available.
Zend Guard(TM) and Zend Platform(TM) for i5/OS are planned to be available for use later in 2006.
For more information on IBM System i, please visit http://www.ibm.com/systemi.
About Zend Technologies
Zend Technologies, Inc., the PHP company, is the leading provider of products and services for developing, deploying and managing business-critical PHP applications. PHP is used by more than twenty-two million Web sites and has quickly become the most popular language for building dynamic web applications. Deployed at more than 15,000 companies worldwide, the Zend family of products is a comprehensive platform for supporting the entire lifecycle of PHP applications. Zend is headquartered in Cupertino, California. For more information, please visit www.zend.com, or call 1-408-253-8800.
The following are either trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other countries or both: IBM, the IBM e-business logo, System i, and System i5. For a list of additional IBM trademarks, please see www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. Zend, Zend Technologies, Zend.com, Zend Studio and Zend Platform and/or the logos and icons associated with each of these names are trademarks of Zend Technologies, Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Zend and as400

Thursday, August 17, 2006

IBM Withdraws Various iSeries and System i5 Features

Last week, IBM announced that it would be withdrawing from marketing a number of iSeries and System i5 features. A bunch of software is also being torn out of the System i product catalog, too. All of these products have replacements, so don't get too nervous