Infrastructure
Along with porting the application code itself to the pSeries platform, you need to consider on-going support of pSeries servers which we have called infrastructure. QA and testing, as well as benchmarking, are recurring tasks performed as new versions of your application are released. Long-term support of the pSeries platform should be determined including investment in training and education for your staff, as well as procuring hardware and software resources. We recommend as a first step that you register at the PartnerWorld Web site. This site contains a wealth of information for IBM Business Partners and developers. Registration is fast and free. Click here for the registration page.
Hardware and Software Resources
In order to port your application to the pSeries platform and also to continue to develop, test, and support your application on a pSeries server, you will need hardware resources. Several options are available:
- PartnerWorld leasing program - It is possible to lease a pSeries server through the PartnerWorld lease program (registration required).
- PartnerWorld discount program - Discounts are also available for Business Partners.
- IBM Innovation Centers for Business Partners - Located worldwide, the SPCs are facilities equipped with the latest
IBM hardware and software, and offer either on-site or remote access. This
is an ideal place to do benchmarking on a range of pSeries platforms, without
incurring the cost of purchasing or leasing a set of servers. The SPCs
are also staffed by expert technical consultants who can provide assistance
in either your porting or testing efforts.
Additionally, the POWER5 pSeries servers are capable of doing logical portioning as well as Micro-Partitioning™ which allows you to run several OS versions at a time on a single server, each in its own partition. For QA and testing purposes, this can be extremely useful, allowing you to have one server to test many different versions of your software, on different operating system versions. Supported operating systems include AIX 5.2 and 5.3 as well as Linux.
Along with hardware resources, software will be required in order to do
your port, as well as for on-going support of the pSeries platform. For software resources, we recommend the following:
- Developing on IBM UNIX servers
- IBM AIX Software
- AIX 5L Bonus and Expansion Pack CDs - The AIX Bonus Pack is a collection of additional software, and the Expansion Pack is a collection of extra software which extends the base operating system capabilities. These two packs together provide a phenomenal value
of additional packaged software at no additional charge. Software on the Bonus and Expansion Packs include:
- Veritas Foundation Suite Evaluation version
- WebSphere Application Server
- Tivoli Storage Manager Evaluation version
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Netscape Communicator
- Geodesic Systems Great Circle software
- AIX Toolbox for Linux Applications
- and many more applications
Training and Education
In order to provide the best support of your application on pSeries servers, it is useful to provide training and education for relevant staff on AIX and the pSeries platform. The links below show different course offerings from IBM. There are many third-party vendors that also provide AIX and pSeries education. Professional certification is also described within these web pages. Additionally, the IBM Innovation Centers for Business Partners offer workshops and seminars on many topics, including WebSphere, DB2, and Tivoli, which are relevant to the pSeries platform. Click here for a list of current IBM Innovation Center workshops and seminars.
QA, Testing, and Benchmarking
The QA and testing phase of the software development cycle is an integral
and critical part of any port. Furthermore, at each new release of an application,
you will need to conduct QA and testing, as well as benchmarking on the
pSeries platform. We recommend that you give it some thought as how to
best integrate this effort into your normal build and development cycle.
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