The IBM AS/400 platform, now the iSeries, provides a high-performance, high-reliability solution for enterprise applications designed for the OS/400 (now the i5/OS) environment. The maturity of the platform provides uptime still unmatched by x86 or x64 Linux and Windows servers.
Advantages of iSeries:
- Very high-availability.
- Mature and scalable hardware and software.
- Direct support for i5/OS, Linux, and IBM's Unix version, AIX 5L.
- 64-bit architecture.
- Wide variety of third-party applications.
Disadvantages of iSeries:
- No direct support for Windows applications.
- Architecture that is unfamiliar to many new systems engineers.
- Declining sales.
- Higher entry prices than commodity servers.
Enterprises with applications designed for this platform have little reason to change.
While IBM offers some attractive pricing and functionality in its iSeries Solution Edition, most small
enterprises should not move to this platform.