The operating system that natively runs on the AS/400 and iSeries platform is a command and menu driven system, so it’s important that you have a good understand of how to use commands and in particular become familiar with commands you will use regularly For some people the command driven environment is a blessing and a curse, as Windows type of administrators have come to embrace a graphical user interface while those who prefer the command line like on Cisco routers

By far the one of the coolest programs and most commonly used on the AS/400 and iSeries platforms is the Work with Active Jobs display that is built into the operating system I frequently use this program to quick see at a glance exactly what is happening with the system and to diagnose and problems that may have cropped up

There is a large misconception running about the user community these days that the AS/400 and iSeries platform are old antiquated machine as scarce as the dinosaurs and just as hard to use with its crummy looking text only interface commonly known as the green screen This is a major sticking point for business looking to buy an AS/400 and especially for some system administrators that have been groomed on a Windows based environment with point and click ease of use and a built in wizard to do just about everything

The AS/400 and iSeries systems are essentially command driven operating systems There are definite advantages to a command line driven environment but nowadays with the widespread popularity of GUIs people seem to recoil when talking about anything command driven

One of the most common questions I get is how do I get the data from my AS/400 or iSeries onto my computer or Excel spreadsheet program so I can manipulate it using PC programs and spreadsheets Now back in the old days this used to be a daunting task, but now in modern times with database tools and ODBC drivers that come bundled with your system downloading any data you need over to a PC can be done in a snap

IBMs midrange platform AS/400 and iSeries systems are definitely the systems for the 21st century Having worked on these systems for ten years I admit it, I’m a bit slanted towards there reliability, functionality and processing power

At the core of every AS/400 is the built in DB2 database that is tightly integrated into the operating system So if you work with the 400 for any length of time eventually you will end up diving into the data stored within the database, usually to update a field correcting inaccuracies or other foul-ups

Rumors, stories and myths abound about the death of the fabled AS/400 and successor iSeries system made popular when release by IBM nearly thirty years ago These rumors have been greatly exaggerated as these rock solid platforms, affectionately dubbed as midrange; “the 400” or just 400 by many fans are still alive and well today running in many businesses

Keeping correct data backups of any enterprise system is a critically important task for any system administrator But are you saving the right kind of data and are you one hundred percent certain that your backup will work if you need to fully recover from a system meltdown

One of my all time favorite tools for creating reports, data lookup inquiry screens or custom file downloads for the AS/400 and iSeries platforms is IBMs very own Query/400 This is amazing tool is an additional licensed program but I find the cost worth it since it is a user friendly menu driven application and it makes creating custom reports a snap