Understanding the Product Name
Typical of IBM branding, their naming makes no sense and everyone still uses AS/400 to refer to IBM i.
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- AS/400 (originally name introduced in 1988)
- eServer iSeries (in 2000)
- System i (in 2006)
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- IBM Power Systems (2008)*
* In 2008, the platform was merged with the System p platform (which ran AIX and Linux) into IBM Power Systems.
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So in a nutshell, the OS is IBM i and the Hardware Platform is IBM Power Systems which can uses virtualization technology called IBM PowerVM to run in LPARs,
- IBM i (various versions 6.1 and 7.1)
- Linux (Redhat, hopefully Ubuntu some timeand others)
- AIX
So Which Operating System is the Host?
I still don't know which OS is the host OS yet.
Acquiring Hardware
As of 2013 I am encountering the OS IBM i 6.1 and IBM i 7.1 in major Financial Institutions. Because the OS will not run in modern (2013) VMs like VMWare or Parralells I need to get a hold of hardware. So where do we even begin?
Requirements,
- Run at least 2 LPARs one for 6.1 and 7.1 at the same time.
- Nice to have, be able to run 3 LPARs with Linux as the third one.
- Run modern WebSphere ND.
- Be as low price as possible (these servers even refurbished are in the thousands)
Client Software
Warning |
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Again, I am totally confused by the naming convention so still working all this through. |
To properly work and connect to IBM i, we need appropriate client software.
The mainstay in the past has been, IBM i Access for Windows. Recently, IBM i Access Client Solutions a Java client (hence platform independent) no install.
You may want to read the not so clear IBM comparison of the two products.
So I went to the IBM Passport Advantage site and the only thing matching was called IBM Host Access Client Package iSeries of which I can not find an IBM website about so far and which I downloaded.
Then I noticed there are essentially two packages,
- Rational Personal Communications (PCOMM) - I think we need this one based on the description.
- Rational Host On-Demand (HOD) - Based on description, web based solution. Use your browser to access HOD which then provide a client to connect to the IBM i OS.
So from this I am guessing, that IBM i Access for Windows became PCOMM?