USB flash drive support was included in AIX 5.3 TL9 and 6.1

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1IZ20000

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1IZ19954

“Perhaps most important to you is the fact that our new Power Systems servers support your applications. This support continues IBM’s decades-long record of helping clients protect their application investment that for many of you goes back to the days of the AS/400 and even earlier. Also, we provide upgrades into the new Power Systems from the majority of our POWER5 and POWER5+ server models, again helping you deploy new technology while maximizing your return on previous investments.”

I have read the letter and it seems very dry and blah. I don’t think Mr. Ross Mauri gets it. I may be wrong but seems like they are still thinking about each OS as a platform and not as one Platform and many OSes.

The two solutions I know the best are IBM i and Linux. I do know something about AIX but not as much as I would like.

I can tell you that I am working ona site like IBM to pull POWER and experts together in one place. I do think the future of the POWER community is in unification and COMMON and the AIX Convention (If there is one?) should merge and come together.

“There are still some differences in how IBM is rolling out its converged System i and System p server lineup — though it’s not so much the hardware that’s different as it is the availability of the operating system. In the IBM i world, we’d pretty much always rather be first, but is being first really that critical?”

So with that said, I am going to need people to provide content for the site. I need really dedicated insane people to help build the community from all parts of this equation. IBM i, AIX, Linux on Power, and POWER hardware. We need to come together in a big way and share. I am also going to cover Lotus, Ubuntu, OpenSolaris, OpenSuSE, FreeBSD and other things that interest me that I think are changing the way IT does IT.

Please send me an email and I will get you in on the fun, and if you know Joomla that would be great too…I am no expert on that CMS kit.

I have tried everything to get the company I work for to replace some older System i units with Power Blades but they have the same fears that is pointed out by this article by Mark Fontecchio.

I would urge anyone who has a need for 515 and 525(520) based server to really take a long hard look at blades. I think over time you will see the blades are actually cheaper.

Here are some highlights:

“Nashville, Tenn., is traditionally known for its country music heritage. But to attendees of the recent Common conference, it will also be known as the place where System i, iSeries and AS/400 hardware were laid to rest and reborn as Power. “

“During the town hall meeting we heard talk of unification, single hardware platform and the i as the center of the OS offering for the new Power equation. IBM decided that Common was the place to let this cat out of the bag, and looking back it was more like a boxcar full of tigers.  “

“The biggest question I walked away asking is what do we do to welcome our newfound brothers and sisters in the AIX and Linux on Power communities?”

I dedicated this article to Al Barsa Jr who will be missed in and around the COMMON Community.

i + AIX +LINUX = Runs on POWER

Since I started in this career path in 1990 I was constantly told by “others” the AS/400 is dead, then the iSeries is dead, after that the System i is dead. So now it’s dead right?

Wrong.

It’s larger than all the other systems in it’s space.Today during the Town Hall Meeting at COMMON, Mark Shearer released a gigantic can of industrial sized whoop ass on the competition. I know I have said it before and I meant it but this is the right move at the right time. The System p and System i become POWER. The i5/OS has become i, yeap just i. See it’s simple.

Mark showed a slide that was one of my favorites, where is showed IBM Power trending up while HP and SUN were both trending down and not even close to the number of installations or server IBM had. This gap is going to grow wider now and anyone thinking of moving off the i to Sun or HP should be sent home and consider a new line of work. IBM is the owner of the midrange space and now with a entry level server and a blade that runs any of three OSes, i, AIX, and Linux is just way to powerful a statement for the Solaris and HPUX people to ignore.

IBM also showed off the Power blades for the “S” Blade Center. The idea some 18 years ago of running a i on a card about the size of an old SPD card or laptop was a silly thought. Now if I wanted to put my Websphere AIX server, my JD Edwards i server and my Linux File and print server all in one foot print with disk I can and I can do it with POWER. So what about Windows? You can place intel based bladed in the “S” and run it there too, right next to the i, AIX, and Linux.

What does David think about this move?

We now have a name that can work for the OS/400, i5/OS and it’s i, just i and it works for me. The i is for buisness logo is awesome. All the new logos are awesome and very nVidia like. I have been in the loop with IBM and nothing they have told me about today has made me think negative things at all. These changes are all what most of the forward thinking people in the community have been thinking all along.

As I get more details I will share them, the event was worth the price of admission. I am a proud member of the i community and today was what most people call an industry earthquake. IBM took it’s most powerful assets and leveraged them into POWER!

We hop to see many many more combined advertising and educational activities in the future, while IBM promised it I still don’t know if they have a plan. This was all very fuzzy and very PC at the same time. I would have liked to have seen a plan for advertising, and after years of being blasted for not doing much you would have thought they would have shown up with a marketing plan. That would be my only comment about the new release.

Lastly someone at IBM needs to take the i OS and find all the places where it says AS/400, OS/400, iSeries, System i, or anything other than POWER or i to remove it. The i needs a clean up.

Thanks IBM for a great COMMON!

Maxed Out – Chris is a much better writer than I so please step over and read his post too.