Can iSeries swallow Windows and Linux?
The Windows integration story is one that should appeal first to existing iSeries users. Around 90 percent of them also have Windows users -- on average around 20 of them -- and are finding them more difficult to manage than their iSeries box. "Everyone has discovered the difficulty of managing Intel over the last few years," said Bramley. "This is a very good way to do it."
IBM proposes that the iSeries can manage the Windows servers -- and even swallow them up, by moving them to onboard Intel processors within the iSeries box. "IBM wants SMB customers to use this highly manageable system to run not just OS/400 workloads, but also to host and manage Windows servers, through onboard or attached xSeries servers," said Bramley. High Speed Link attachments allows these to connect at backplane speeds.
IBM's Linux play on iSeries is based on the likelihood that iSeries shops will want similar services in a few years. At present, Linux penetration is only around five percent in iSeries shops -- much lower than elsewhere, as iSeries users tend to a little risk-averse -- but they are expected to grow. "There is a huge emphasis on Linux," said Bramley. "It is at an early stage, but maturing rapidly."
IBM includes a free processor and Linux distribution to encourage iSeries managers to try the open-source operating system out -- and Linux will run on the main processors in LPAR logical partitions. "IBM wants to be ready to support Linux applications as they come to be used in this community," said Bramley. "This shows all IBM's corporate commitment to Linux, on this platform."
With 400,000 machines in use by around a quarter of a million customers, iSeries has by far IBM's largest platform customer base. This announcement should give them something to think about.
Perhaps one opportunity will be to sell this iSeries for storage virtualisation. "The single level store idea of iSeries has been brilliant," said Bramley. "It is completely unlike any other class of system." By extending these services to Windows and Linux, IBM may create an easier way to manage storage. "I think you could justify iSeries on storage area networking alone," said Bramley, "Only on large sites, but it would be a very effective way to do it."
Despite the iSeries' image as a closed, proprietary platform, it supports plenty of standards in the bundled middleware, including J2EE. "The days when you could see this as closed proprietary box are long gone," said Bramley.
IBM is porting a native version of its own AIX Unix to the platform, so next year it will run in its own partitions. The company is also working to make sure developers keep iSeries in their sights: former iSeries manager Buell Duncan has been moved to IBM's developer relations organisation.
Conclusions
While some analysts like Bramley are positive, others are sceptical, even of such a major announcement. "[ZSeries and iSeries] remain valuable platforms in slow, long-term decline," said Tom Bittman, Gartner Group vice president and research director, quoted in iSeries Network.
Bittman acknowledges that IBM's efforts to focus on small-to-medium businesses, and include more software, should bring results, but won't make much difference to first-quarter revenue.
The stories of platforms like iSeries take place on longer timescales. An increase in its fortunes this year could make a very big difference to its long-term lifespan. But either way, the platform is not going away any time soon.
