Article
The Difference Between OCR and IDP
Thu, 06/23/2022
Compare optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent document processing (IDP) to learn when to use each to make structured and unstructured data more usable.
Article
Three Essential Steps to Successful Performance Management
Tue, 08/24/2021
Performance management is often made to look cumbersome and complex, but we’ve distilled the process down to three essential steps.
Article
Virtual Tape Considerations for IBM i
By Tom Huntington on Mon, 06/28/2021
This article examines some of the most popular IBM VTL (virtual tap library) solutions for IBM i and other platforms. You'll also learn what to consider to determine if VTL is right for you.
Article
Performance Navigator vs. IBM PM400
By Randy Watson on Mon, 01/25/2021
This article presents a technical review of how Performance Navigator stacks up as a replacement for IBM Performance Management for Power Systems (PM400).
Article
Robot Save Restricted State Utility (RSU)—Get Your Weekends Back!
By Chuck Losinski on Tue, 06/02/2020
There are processes that are required on your IBM i that need to run with the system in what is called a “restricted state” condition. A restricted state is when all subsystems are inactive and new jobs cannot enter the system. Only the system console might be active.
Article
Why Relying on Scripted Operations Can Be a Problem for Your Business
By Steve Brasen on Tue, 03/31/2020
Scripting provides a powerful platform to automate simple tasks, but overusing custom scripts is hazardous for your business.
Article
IBM on IASP for PowerHA Implementations
By Chuck Losinski on Tue, 03/03/2020
You’ve heard about IASP technology many times over the years, but you’ve been ignoring it, haven’t you? Steve Finnes confirms that it’s past time we “get to know it, understand it, and not be afraid of it.”
Article
How to Prove Your IBM i is Recoverable without a Real DR Test
By Tom Huntington on Thu, 02/27/2020
How good do you feel about your backup strategies? Did you know you can perform a simple operation two to four times a year to put much of your uneasiness to rest? It’s true. Simply audit your backups.
Article
FlashCopy: Pros and Cons
By Tom Huntington on Wed, 02/26/2020
IBM System Storage FlashCopy might seem like magic. But do the benefits for IBM i business continuity outweigh the hidden costs? Read on to find out.
Article
Backup Basics: Saving Your Data and Your Job
By Tom Huntington on Mon, 02/24/2020
You need a backup strategy to test your company’s disaster recovery plan and, despite its reputation for reliability, administrators still need to back up their IBM i. A sound backup strategy should also restore individual user objects to account for human error.
Article
Capacity Planning and the Culture of Proof
By Timothy Prickett Morgan on Fri, 05/31/2019
Capacity planning is one of the most important things that a company will do, and yet there are still many companies that do it on the back of the envelope. Read this article and learn how to do it right.
Article
Top 5 Capacity Planning Mistakes on IBM i
By Tom Huntington on Tue, 02/12/2019
When it comes to capacity planning for IBM i, skip the shortcuts. This article shares expert recommendations on how to avoid the most common capacity planning mistakes.
Article
If It Has Moving Parts, Someday It's Going to Fail.
Sat, 11/03/2018
Check out IBM's new READ INTENSIVE SSDs. This is a note to highlight some of the pros and cons - and dig a little deeper into one of the cons - of IBM's recently announced new class of solid state disk drives, "read intensive" (RI) SSDs. The new RI-SSD comes in one flavor, a 1.86 TB drive. The new concept to wrap your head around is that the drive will "wear out" if you write too much over the...
Article
Managing Your IBM i Audit Data
By Robin Tatam on Wed, 08/01/2018
Let’s face it; system administration remains a largely thankless task. From scheduling jobs to balancing workloads to answering messages in QSYSOPR, administrators and operators work diligently behind the scenes to ensure that IBM i servers are available to run mission-critical applications.
Article
How to Download an ODBC Driver
Wed, 07/25/2018
Performance Navigator® requires an ODBC connection to connect to your IBM i system, but it does not come with your PC’s operating system. IBM has a downloadable they’ve titled Access Client Solutions, which we recommend our customers use to get that ODBC connection.
Article
FAQs about Performance Navigator
Thu, 07/12/2018
Will this product hurt the performance of my IBM i®? You will not even notice that the product is working. The data gathering software is already part of the OS. I currently have a subscription to IBM's PM for Power service. How is Performance Navigator compared to PM? Glad you asked... Performance Navigator uses exactly the same input as PM for Power, Collection Services. Performance Navigator...
Article
4 Reasons to Add VTLs
By Tom Huntington on Tue, 08/30/2016
Backup and recovery processes are among the unsung heroes of data center operations. Though end results may not be readily apparent on an everyday basis, natural and digital disasters have a way of humbling companies that do not take this risk management discipline seriously.
Article
Robot Best Practices
By Tom Huntington on Mon, 06/27/2016
Wondering about best practices for automating your IBM i processes with Robot systems management solutions? Take a look at this list and get off to a good start.