IBM i Series, Handbook

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iSeries Architecture: Fundamental Strength of the iSeries
iSeries Architecture: Fundamental Strength of the iSeries
The iSeries servers and supporting software offer important advanced capabilities in such
key areas as Java, Web serving, Lotus Domino, integration with Windows NT, managed
availability, database, and Business Intelligence solutions. The iSeries solution continues to
be a strong performer in such growing areas as data warehousing and the Internet. To gain
an appreciation of these technologies and of the particular strength of the iSeries server in
delivering them, this chapter provides a summary of each prime element.
With over 650,000 systems shipped worldwide, the iSeries servers have the highest customer
satisfaction index in the industry, as measured by IBM internal studies. Ten major factors
contributing to this include:
• Offers state-of-the-art 64-bit relational database processing.
• Leads the industry in delivering the first server with Silicon on Insulator (SOI)
technology.
• Allows the deployment of Java, UNIX ported applications, Windows 2000,
Domino-based applications, and Linux on a single server.
• Directly (natively) supports different file structures, such as PC files, UNIX files,
NetWare files, Domino files, ASCII files, and EBCDIC files.
• Can ship with over 200 processor chips under the covers of a “single” large system.
• Can have 32 Windows NT servers in a single system while sharing host systems disk
storage, tape, and CD-ROM resources.
• Its object-based design makes it highly virus resistant.
• Has proven it can deliver over 99.9% availability.
• Its operating system can operate for more than one year without ever requiring a
re-IPL, in hundreds of customer shops.
• Delivers vector coded indexes for Business Intelligence applications offering up to ten
times the improvement in performance.
Why should the system architecture matter to a business person? This section helps you
understand why.
Business leaders do not grow their business by simply choosing a computer system. They
start by choosing an application to fit their business goals and needs. iSeries customers have
tens of thousands of proven business applications worldwide. Because of that, very often the
computer system is considered first.
If you compared an application running on an iSeries server to the same application running
on a non-iSeries server, you would continue to choose the iSeries. Why? Because, although