The table lists the planned dates that Remote Technical Support will be withdrawn for each Hardware Generation of the IBM WebSphere Appliances – DataPower, Cast Iron, along with IBM Workload Deployer and IBM Cloudburst appliances:
All statements regarding IBM future direction or intent, including current product plans, are subject to change or withdrawal without notice and represent goals and objectives only. All information is provided for informational purposes only, on an “as is” basis, without warranty of any kind.
Notes
• May make support extensions available, for an additional fee, after the standard service end date has been met and as inventory and capability is sustainable
• Extended service maintenance agreements contain limited terms and conditions. Refer to the Service Extension agreement for more details. Contact your IBM Sales rep for additional information regarding extended service maintenance agreements.
Category: Uncategorized
IBM Bringing 500 Jobs to Buffalo
IBM is committing to bring 500 jobs to a new, 100,000-square-foot, state-owned computer information technology center in Buffalo to train future and current industry workers and to create cutting-edge software.
According to an article in the local news, IBM has also agreed to a separate endeavor to become the first corporate technology member of the recently announced New York Genomic Medicine Center, a $100 million new partnership between a genome research facility in Manhattan and the University at Buffalo’s center for computational research.
At a news conference Monday, it was announced that IBM will be the anchor tenant in a new partnership development with SUNY College of Nanoscale Engineering in Albany.
IBM’s new facility is expected to open in Buffalo by early 2015 and is the latest in a series of economic development plans in Western New York.
Buffalo has done a fair job of luring IBM to come here with some $55 million in state funding going toward the project. An additional $30 million will go for the purchase of various software, computers and servers.
The goal is to create around 500 jobs in three to five years time and IBM is reportedly putting an emphasis on recruiting software engineer and research graduates from Buffalo colleges.
Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer, said the new facility will “create new opportunity for Buffalo developing the next generation of software in growth areas like mobile, cloud and analytics.”
WNY CIO Summit: Enterprise Data Breach
There’s been so much in the news lately about major enterprise organizations being hacked and your information is sold to the highest bidder. With the Target breach alone, how many of you had credit cards involved in the hack?
These are major organizations who should, by all rights, be prepared to handle these breaches and they got caught unprepared. So how does your organization stack up?
Join Gary Dischner from IBM and Cindy Gregoire, TxMQ Middleware Practice Manager as they walk you through how to better prepare your company and form a perimeter of protection around your most sensitive data.
Event Title: CIO Summit: Enterprise Data Breach
Date: Wednesday February 12, 2014
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Location: UB Center for Tomorrow
Register today!!
Photo credit: Stockmonkeys.com under Creative Commons License
IBM Plans to Acquire Lenovo Servers
Lenovo and IBM have entered into a definitive agreement in which Lenovo plans to acquire IBM’s x86 server business. This includes System x, BladeCenter and Flex System blade servers and switches, x86-based Flex integrated systems, NeXtScale and iDataPlex servers and associated software, blade networking and maintenance operations. The purchase price is approximately US$2.3 billion, approximately two billion of which will be paid in cash and the balance in Lenovo stock.
IBM will retain its System z mainframes, Power Systems, Storage Systems, Power-based Flex servers, and PureApplication and PureData appliances.
The agreement builds upon a longstanding collaboration that began in 2005 when Lenovo acquired IBM’s PC business, which included the ThinkPad line of PCs. In the period since the companies have continued to collaborate in many areas.
IBM will continue to develop and evolve its Windows and Linux software portfolio for the x86 platform. IBM is a leading developer of software products for x86 servers with thousands of products and tens of thousands of software developer and services professionals who build software for x86 systems.
For more information on this acquisition, read the full announcement.
DataPower Appliances Nearing End of Life
As with any hardware, software or appliance purchase you make, it has an associated Maintenance End of Service and Hardware End of Life program. Right now the DataPower machine types 9235 ( XS40, XI50, XB60, XM70, XA35, and XM70FC ) are nearing this first initial ‘Standard Maintenance End of Service Date’. The end date on the service maintenance is 3/31/2014. If you want to get ahead of the game and get the most out of the next models, let TxMQ help you with your upgrades to the newer machine models.
By upgrading to the newer machine models, you will be taking advantage of the latest high performing appliances. The XI52’s and XB62’s go from 4 GB of memory to a whopping 24 GB(7198) or 96 GB ( 7199 ) of memory. The usable hard disk space is drastically larger as well, allowing you to store more logs and files on the appliance. That goes from a measly 70 GB of usable storage to an awesome 300 GB ( 7198 ) or 600 GB (7199) of usable space that you can leverage for your own needs.
Let’s not forget to mention all of the extra interfaces that the new machines now have access to. On the 7199 appliance (XI52 and XB62) there’s a total of 10 X 1 gigabit interfaces. Then there’s the 2 X 10 gigabit Interfaces for those companies that can really let the data flow. The 7198 ( XG45 ) appliance has a total of 6 X 1 gigabit interfaces and 2 X 10 gigabit interfaces.
The newer models have a Standard Maintenance End of Service Date in 2018, so if you upgrade now you can take advantage of the full lifespan that this has to offer and help avoid unnecessary maintenance premiums.
TxMQ has the experience and expertise you need to make sure your DataPower environment is up to date and that you are getting the most out of your appliances and infrastructure. Contact Wendy Sanacore or give us a call (716) 636-0070 (229) for all of your DataPower Appliance, Hardware and Software needs. We would be glad to hear from you.
(Photo courtesy of Kevin Dooley)
Portal Development Geek Alert – CES is upon us!
GEEK ALERT! CES is almost upon us. Can you believe its the 47th year? Everything from 3D TVs where you don’t need glasses, to “Dick Tracy style” watch phones, to the latest gaming consoles, CES is sure to introduce an entirely new wave of pervasive devices.
Question: How can companies keep up with ever increasing ways to access information? Answer: Enterprise portals which have pervasive extendable foundations. It’s all in the planning. TxMQ’s Portal Development practice has skilled experts in this area. TxMQ …find out more!
Email Wendy Sanacore for more information about TxMQ’s Portal practice, today!
Here’s a cool ramp-up story from CNET: CES 2014: We’ll take you there.
Latest News And Musings From IBM's iSeries 5 (i5)
With the advent of the Power Systems from IBM, the traditional iSeries (AS/400) and pSeries (AIX) have now merged into a single hardware platform presence. The AS/400 – iSeries – i5/OS (whatever you want to call it) is now 25 years old and that’s a long time running in the technology world. Experts over the years have always promised the demise of the iSeries with whatever new flavor is on the market. This post a couple of years ago by the Info-Tech research group dispelled several myths surrounding the potential demise of the iSeries: Is IBM i a dying platform, or still going strong?
All of these are true and growing stronger with each passing release and technology update. The “green screen” is still in existence but IBM and business partner ISVs have been expanding the delivery methods that include:
- WebSphere
- Tomcat
- Apache web server
- Lotus suite
- DB2/i Web Query
- iSeries Navigator for the web
- Development tools including JAVA, C/C++, PHP, etc.
- ERP software advancements; SAP, Oracle/PeopleSoft/JDEdwards, etc.
Several items on this list have been with the iSeries for many years, yet many people have never knew about those capabilities. With the latest technology release, IBM has upgraded and improved many web-development areas – JAVA, ARE (application runtime expert), free-form RPG coding, plus several hardware feature improvements including:
- Smaller form factor for SSD drives. Both 387 and 775Gb drives.
- New 1.2Tb 10k RPM SAS drive
- Higher level of cache on SAS Raid adapters
- Continued SQL improvements for DB2/i.
The future of technology is the ever-changing presentation of information to the consumers – iPhone, Droids, tablets, etc – by way of the ability to process data, analyze it, turn it into information, and then present it to consumers in whatever “omni-channel” they choose. IBM and iSeries will continue to flourish and grow with more integration, more big data processing, maximum u-time, and one of the highest TCO in the market place.
TxMQ can help support your hardware needs. Look to us as a full-service solutions provider, from Power System and iSeries sales to support. Call Miles Roty, 716-636-0070 (228) or email [email protected] for more information.
A Quadruple Play For IBM On-Premises Applications
As industry focuses more and more on a move toward cloud, IBM is certainly not neglecting the On-Premises needs. Way to go IBM!!! Gartner recently scored IBM as the “Quadrant Leader” in four significant areas: On-Premises Application Platforms, Mobile Application Development Platforms, On-Premises Application Integration Suites and Application Services Governance.
You will hear a lot of this buzz at the upcoming IBM Connect (January) and IBM Impact (April) conferences. Come to TxMQ to understand the full significance of this achievement.
To learn more, you can download each of the Gartner Magic Quadrant reports here:
- On-Premises Application Platforms
- On-Premises Application Integration Suites
- Application Services Governance
- Mobile Application Development Platforms
Managed Vs. Unmanaged Web Servers for IBM WAS
What’s the difference between “managed” web servers and “unmanaged” web servers?
I’m glad you asked! There are several types of web servers that can be used with IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS), including the Apache HTTP Server, Microsoft IIS web server and Sun Java System web server, among others. However, these non-IBM web servers CANNOT be controlled by IBM’s WebSphere Application Server (WAS).
Only the IBM HTTP Server (IHS) can be controlled by IBM WAS. And it’s the IBM HTTP Server (IHS) web server, specifically, that drives the concept of “managed” versus “unmanaged.”
A managed IHS web server is one that is installed on the same system as a WAS node agent and controlled by that WAS node agent.
WAS Admin —commands–> WAS node agent —controls–> IHS web server
An unmanaged IHS web server is one that is installed on a system that does not have any WAS node agent; therefore, it must use the IBM HTTP Server Administration Server to be controlled from WAS.
WAS Admin —commands–> IHS Admin server —controls–> IHS web server
It’s possible to use WAS Admin console to control the IHS web server in both cases. Managed simply means that the commands go from WAS Admin to a WAS node agent that controls the IHS web server on that system. Unmanaged means that the commands go from WAS Admin to an IHS Admin server which controls the IHS web server on that system.
Maybe an example will help shed some light on this concept: IHS installed on a stand-alone WAS server (no node agent) can be controlled by WAS only if the IHS Admin Server is configured and running. This is an unmanaged scenario. In version 8.0 and later, the Plug-in Configuration Tool (PCT) refers to this as “local_standalone” config type.
Here’s another example to explain further: IHS installed on a WAS node that’s federated to a WAS cell, and under the control of a WAS deployment manager, can be controlled by the WAS deployment manager – sending commands through the WAS node agent on the IHS system. This is the managed scenario. In version 8.0 and later, the Plug-in Configuration Tool (PCT) refers to this as “local_distributed” config type. Note the difference between the config types in our two examples.
What about IHS installed on the WAS deployment manager system itself?
If there’s also a federated WAS node on that same system, you can use that WAS node agent to control the IHS web server in a managed scenario (local_distributed).
If there is not any federated WAS node on that same system, you will need to use IHS Admin Server to control the IHS web server in an unmanged scenario (local_standalone).
If the IHS web server is installed on a separate system that does not have any WAS, and you want to control it remotely from the WAS Admin Console on another system, that would be considered an unmanaged scenario, so you will need to use the IHS Admin Server on the IHS system. In version 8.0 and later, the plugin Configuration Tool (PCT) refers to this as “remote” config type.
WAS Admin —commands across network—> IHS Admin server —controls–> IHS web server
For detailed instructions on how to configure IHS, plugin, or IHS Admin server, please contact [email protected]. To speak with a TxMQ WebSphere sales representative, call (716) 636-0070 (228) for company Vice President Miles Roty.
Server Issues With WebSphere Application Server In Relational Database
WebSphere news from IBM: December 11, 2013
Technote (troubleshooting)
Problem(Abstract)
If you have chosen to store your WebSphere Application Server transaction and compensation logs in a Relational Database, and your system has constrained resources, the server might fail to start.
Cause
The recovery log service has attempted to obtain information from the WebSphere Application Server Directory Service before that service has fully initialized, and this recovery log service operation has timed out. The length of time taken for the directory service to initialize can vary depending on your system environment.
Diagnosing the problem
The following exception is reported in the WebSphere Application Server log file:
WsServerImpl E WSVR0009E: Error occurred during startup
com.ibm.ws.exception.RuntimeError: com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.spi.InternalLogException: Failed to locate DataSource, com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.spi.InternalLogException: Failed to locate DataSource
at com.ibm.ws.tx.util.WASTMHelper.asynchRecoveryProcessingComplete(WASTMHelper.java:176)
at com.ibm.tx.util.TMHelper.asynchRecoveryProcessingComplete(TMHelper.java:57)
at com.ibm.tx.jta.impl.RecoveryManager.recoveryFailed(RecoveryManager.java:1412)
at com.ibm.tx.jta.impl.RecoveryManager.run(RecoveryManager.java:1942)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:773)
Caused by: com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.spi.InternalLogException: Failed to locate DataSource, com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.spi.InternalLogException: Failed to locate DataSource
at com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.custom.jdbc.impl.SQLMultiScopeRecoveryLog.openLog(SQLMultiScopeRecoveryLog.java:525)
at com.ibm.tx.jta.impl.RecoveryManager.run(RecoveryManager.java:1886)
… 1 more
Caused by: Failed to locate DataSource, com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.spi.InternalLogException: Failed to locate DataSource
at com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.custom.jdbc.impl.SQLNonTransactionalDataSource.getDataSource(SQLNonTransactionalDataSource.java:249)
at com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.custom.jdbc.impl.SQLMultiScopeRecoveryLog.getConnection(SQLMultiScopeRecoveryLog.java:760)
at com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.custom.jdbc.impl.SQLMultiScopeRecoveryLog.openLog(SQLMultiScopeRecoveryLog.java:393)
… 2 more
Resolving the problem
Increase the timeout value for the recovery log service operation by completing the following steps:
- Open the WebSphere Application Server administrative console.
- Click Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > server_name.
- Under Server Infrastructure, click Java and Process Management > Process definition.
- Under Additional properties, click Java Virtual Machine > Custom properties > New.
- In the Name field, enter com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.custom.jdbc.impl.ConfigOfDataSourceTimeout.
- In the Value field, enter an integer timeout value in milliseconds; for example, to set the timeout to 10 seconds, enter 10000.
- Click OK, then click Save to save your changes to the master configuration.
The default value for the com.ibm.ws.recoverylog.custom.jdbc.impl.ConfigOfDataSourceTimeout property is two seconds.
