COMMON POWERUp 2024

In the tradition of previous Technology Refreshes (TR), the database team is delivering enhancements on the same cadence. Attend this session to hear about the many enhancements to SQL on i, SQL Query Engine, IBM i Services and more. This session will cover the new and enhanced Db2 for i capabilities added to IBM i 7.4 and IBM i 7.5 over the most recent IBM i Technology Refreshes.

This session will include something for everyone and anyone who uses the IBM i.

Resources: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/1119129 and http://ibm.biz/Db2foriSQLTutor

Learning Objectives:

Have you thought about the passwords you use on your systems? What rules or restrictions do you have in place? But more importantly, why?! Have you ever thought about what those rules actually do to your passwords? Do you think they are making you more secure or less secure? In this presentation, we will cover passwords in depth, in theory, and specific to IBM i. Can your IBM i password be hacked? Come and find out at this inquisitive session!

Learning Objectives:
1. Set modern password policy
2. Understand password protection tools

The High Availability and Disaster Recovery landscape is continually evolving with new technologies both on-premis and in the cloud dedicated to ensuring your business stays running. Navigating through these technologies requires and understanding of business needs, and outage protection goals.

Throughout this session we will discuss the types of outages, and the technologies available to protect against those types of outages in order to help you make decisions to map out your HA and DR journey. This session will give a brief overview of a number of technologies including: Db2 Mirror, Live Partition Mobility, Logical/Software based Replication, Full System Replication, and PowerHA technologies.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn the importance of considering your recovery point objective and recovery time objective for different types of outages
2. Learn how different technologies can help achieve various RPO and RTO targets.
3. Learn how the technologies can be combined to form solutions with several examples of common solutions

JSON becomes more and more important especially in RESTful web services. The use of XML declines in favor of JSON. With the JSON_TABLE table function JSON documents can be parsed, converted into a relational representation and data picked specifically out. Additional scalar functions allow SQL to directly access JSON documents located within the IFS (Integrated File System) or in source physical file members. Last but not least IBM provides SQL functions for getting access to web services. In composition with the JSON_TABLE function the JSON answers returned by web services can be consumed.

Learning Objectives:
Learn how JSON documents located in either the IFS or a column in a table or JSON answers from web services can be parsed with the JSON_TABLE table function, converted into a relational representation and data specifically selected. You’ll also get an overview over the new http-functions and how to use them for getting access to web services.

In round 2 of this award-winning session, be prepared to hear Scott Forstie and Carol Woodbury shake up the world of IBM i Security once again, mixing up new SQL concoctions to bedazzle the otherwise boring world of IBM i Security. This menu includes examples of using SQL to find vulnerabilities in your code (aka penetration testing) as well as new (but practical!) ways to use SQL services. Even the most ardent security skeptic will be surprised at how just a sip of SQL can freshen up old IBM i Security processes. Before you know it, you’ll be sipping on the delightful features of SQL and rushing to pour out your current processes that have reached their ‘consume by’ date. A note of caution, however. You may leave a bit shaken (but not stirred) once again!

Learning Objectives:
1. Foundational knowledge of IBM i security
2. Why and how SQL is useful to the Security Officer and beyond
3. Have an idea of where to start and how

Inspired by longtime presenters at the Summit, this discussion looks at the most popular tweaks, hacks and just plain good practices the for IBM i PHP community to enjoy. Sometimes you just need a shopping list of things to watch out for and many of the tips that are scattered throughout these presentations are consolidated in a single place. Performance, security and best practices and more will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:
• Common tips useful to all PHP shops
• Common mistakes to overcome with PHP in most shops

Are you intimidated by spreadsheets? Do you use Excel for the basics, but know you could be so much more productive with it if only you knew how? Do you cringe when other business people within your company ask for data in spreadsheet form? Excel is a wonderful tool, especially when paired with the IBM i! It's incredibly powerful, and can save you lots of time.

This session will begin with the basics and then progress through more advanced Excel topics such as functions, pivot tables, and array formulas. Using real life examples, you'll see how these new skills will help you in your career. Finally, we'll review powerful methods of pulling data from your IBM i directly into Excel spreadsheets! You'll even leave with sample code you can leverage within Excel to give you one click access to run an SQL statement from your desktop and have the results returned in a spreadsheet.

Learning Objectives:
After participating in this session, attendees should have the skills and techniques to:
- Understand the benefits of using Excel
- Use spreadsheets to improve your own productivity as well as that of your company
- Pull data from your IBM i directly into a spreadsheet in a variety of ways

Today, there are no known ransomware viruses that run directly on IBM i. However, that does not mean that the IBM i is not at risk. In this practical session, you will learn how to keep your IBM i system safe from Ransomware attacks. Don't miss this critical session!

Learning Objectives:
1. Understanding ransomware and how it can effect the IBM i
2. Know how to secure the IBM i from ransomware attacks
3. Link to resources for further details