IBM i Enhanced with Support for Storage, PowerVM, BladeCenter
IBM i 6.1 with 6.1.1 machine code offers enhanced support for IBM System Storage, PowerVM virtualization, and I/O enhancements. IBM i 6.1.1 is supported on POWER6 processor-based servers and blades as well as POWER5 processor-based servers and System i models 800, 810, 825, 870, and 890.
IBM i 6.1.1 is enhanced with native support for IBM Systems Storage DS5100, DS5300, and DS8700; support for ProtecTIER virtual tape storage device; support for XIV with PowerVM VIOS on POWER6 processors; support for NPIV and redundant VIOS partitions with PowerVM; new i Edition for BladeCenter S with RAID support; enhanced support for solid state drives (SSD); additional I/O support; support for a temporary file system in the IFS; support for IBM i network upgrade; IBM i Performance Data Investigator improvements; and Apache PCI compliance.
U.S. Announcement: 209-281
IBM i Licensing by User promotion (expires December 16)
For a limited time, customers can get a 40 percent discount off the One-Time Charge (OTC) of selected eligible, new IBM i5/OS or IBM i user licenses for qualifying IBM Power Systems 520 Express servers, and BladeCenter JS12, JS22, and JS23/JS43 Express blade servers. IBM must receive orders for the eligible user licensing on or before December 16. Shipment from IBM must occur no later than December 31. The promotion is available only in the United States and its territories, Canada, and IBM--Caribbean North District.
U.S. Announcement: 309-571
IBM Power Systems expands I/O features
New I/O enhancements are available for Power Systems. These include: three additional Small Form Factor (SFF) SAS disk drive capacities; an additional 12X DDR 19-inch I/O drawer with PCIe slots and no disk bays; support by IBM i 6.1 for dual feature 5903 PCIe SAS 380MB Cache Adapters; dual adapter support for the feature 5904, 5906, and 5908 PCI-X DDR 1.5GB Cache SAS RAID Adapter; additional solid state drive configuration flexibility; new Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) capability; USB Removable Disk Drive; a new RFID tag convenience option labeling selected Power Systems and components; Deployment-Ready Services; and Customer-Specified Placement.
U.S. Announcement: 109-571
IBM System Storage DS8700 Gets New Capabilities
IBM has introduced new capabilities with the IBM System Storage DS8700 models (Machine type 2422), offering greater choices in price and performance that include IBM System Storage DS8700 high-performance flagship Model 941 and expansion Model 94E, POWER6-based processors, PCI-E based internal fabric improvements, upgraded device adapters, non-disruptive upgrade path for the DS8700 Model 941 and additional Model 94E expansion frames, enhancements to disk encryption key management, and value-based licensing.
U.S. Announcement: 109-289
IBM BladeCenter Features Expand Network Communications Options
New network communication features are available on the IBM BladeCenter H chassis and the IBM BladeCenter JS12, JS22, and JS23/JS43 blade servers. BladeCenter H offers Voltaire QDR 4X Infiniband Switch, BNT 10-port 10Gb Ethernet Switch Module, QDR Infiniband Cable, 10Gb Ethernet Pass-Thru Module, Brocade 10-port 8Gb SAN Switch, Brocade 20-port 8Gb SAN Switch, and Brocade 8Gb SFP+ Transceiver. IBM BladeCenter JS12, JS22, and JS23/JS43 offer QLogic 2-port 10Gb Converged Network Adapter (CFFh). IBM also has announced changes to the IBM i Edition for BladeCenter S (#0775) and a new IBM i Edition for BladeCenter S with RAID (#0776).
U.S. Announcement: 109-545
IBM Releases Rack-mounted HMC with HTML Interface
The IBM Rack-mounted Hardware Management Console (HMC) (7042-CR5) is a dedicated workstation for system and partition control of IBM POWER5, POWER5+, POWER6, and POWER6+ processor-based servers. The HMC is designed to deliver access control from both the GUI and command line; LPAR control; HMC installation, backup, and restore via network interface; remote sharing support for IBM i console sessions through the 5250 Console Proxy; support for automatic installation of AIX and Linux via the System Planning Tool; remote call-in through a renewable machine control program remote support agreement; round-the-clock error reporting via Electronic Service Agent for fast support; and advanced service functions, including guided repair and verify and concurrent firmware updates for managed systems.
U.S. Announcement: 109-577
IBM i Smart Business Software Pack Available for IBM Smart Cube
IBM Smart Business Software Pack for i on IBM Smart Cube brings new levels of integration to both middleware and applications for businesses around the world. The package includes a new middleware architecture called IBM Smart Business Application Integrator for software application vendors to deliver integrated applications for IBM Smart Business with new levels of manageability and support; enables core IT services needed to run any small business; helps save time and costs by automating manual day-to-day IT management with unique self-managing and self-configuring server autonomics; delivers a small-footprint IBM Power technology-based server; helps save cost with IBM Lotus Symphony office productivity tools for spreadsheets, presentations, and documents; and helps increase productivity with optional business applications.
U.S. Announcement: 209-342
IBM Releases Systems Director Active Energy Manager V4.2
IBM Systems Director Active Energy Manager V4.2 software, an IBM Systems Director plug-in, is available on Linux on POWER, AIX, and Windows operating systems to help you monitor and manage the power and thermal usage of your IT environment. The main new features in this release are energy management of updated firmware levels for IBM POWER6 technology-based servers to aid in power on and off; enhanced facility provider support with APC, Eaton, and Emerson Network Power; support for users to manually create relationships from servers to cooling and power units in data centers; enhanced power distribution unit (PDU) support; and the ability to monitor energy and environmental data from PDUs and sensors sold by APC, Avocent, Rittal, and Arch Rock.
U.S. Announcement: 209-303
IBM HA Assist for i Enables Replication of Objects
IBM's new HA Assist for i delivers a logical software replication solution from IBM based on replication and System i journaling and clustering that can be used to replicate *SYSBASE objects that cannot be stored on an Independent Auxiliary Storage Pool (IASP); both a Java-based GUI and green-screen command or menu-based operations; monitoring, synchronization checking, role swapping, alarms and alerts, and automatic resynchronization; support and integration with DS6000, DS8000, and ESS as well as third-party SAN hardware disk-based replication tools; and IASP and XSM support through HA Assist for i.
U.S. Announcement: 209-312
IBM Systems Director VMControl V2.2 Manages Virtualized Pools
IBM Systems Director VMControl V2.2 software, an IBM System Director plug-in, is a comprehensive set of virtualization management tools that can help improve overall utilization of virtual server, storage, and network resources. The main features in the release are system pools for IBM Power Systems, aggregated management with workloads, new image management capabilities for IBM Power Systems, virtual server life cycle management and relocation for VMware vCenter 4.0, virtual server life cycle management for Microsoft Hyper-V V2, and data center integration and extensibility via REST APIs.
IBM Systems Director VMControl Image Manager for Power Systems V2.2 can visualize, navigate, and manage virtual appliances. New enhancements are available for virtual server management (VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V) and virtual image management.
U.S. Announcement: 209-329
IBM Releases Host Access Client Package for iSeries V7
Host Access Client Package delivers new releases of Personal Communications for Windows and IBM Rational Host On-Demand.
U.S. Announcement: 209-408
IBM Offers Power Systems Capacity Upgrade on Demand Discount
For a limited time, you can receive a promotional discount off the IBM Single Unit Purchase Price (SUPP) of eligible processor activation features acquired for selected qualifying installed IBM Power Systems, System i5, and System i servers with Capacity Upgrade on Demand (CUoD) processors. In order to qualify for the promotional discount, IBM records must show qualifying servers, including the qualifying CUoD features, as installed in the End User Enterprise prior to October 27. More than one processor activation feature can be acquired at the promotional discount for a single qualifying server. Orders must be received by IBM on or before December 29. Shipment from IBM must occur on or after October 27, but no later than December 31.
U.S. Announcement: 309-573
IBM Offers Power 550 Express Server with PowerVM Promotion
For a limited time, if you acquire a solution that includes an eligible new IBM 550 Express server and eligible new IBM PowerVM Enterprise Edition per processor licenses for the IBM 550 Express server, you can receive the eligible new IBM PowerVM Enterprise Edition per processor licenses at no charge. To qualify, the eligible new IBM 550 Express server and PowerVM licenses must be ordered as a single system during a single ordering session. Orders must be received by IBM on or before December 23. Shipment from IBM must occur on or after October 27, but no later than December 31.
U.S. Announcement: 309-574
IBM Offers Power 570 and 595 Server Extended Warranty Services Promotion
For a limited time, if you acquire an eligible new IBM Power 570 server configuration that includes a minimum of eight POWER6 processor activations or an IBM Power 595 server configuration that includes a minimum of sixteen POWER6 processor activations, IBM will provide an additional year of extended warranty services on the configuration you acquire at no additional charge. Orders must be received by IBM on or before December 18. The Date of Installation must occur on or after November 3, but no later than January 30, 2010.
U.S. Announcement: 309-577